Avengers watch Iron Man
by AppleSun
Summary: When Loki zaps the Avengers and Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD to a room where they have to watch 3 movies about Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, the most they expect is some trademark arrogant Stark and multiple girls, not the terrible whirlwind of pain that is Tony's life. NO SLASH - just bromance. Well, there might be a little ClintxNatasha, but that's it.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everybody. This is my first Fanfic, I hope you like it.

And then Loki zapped them with his staff, and there was nothing.

Captain America groaned slightly, and brought his hand to his forehead. He was lying down on a cold, hard ground (perhaps marble?). Around him, the rest of his team were sprawled. Everything was fuzzy, wobbling like he was on a roller coaster. He could just about make out Loki, bent over the Hulk, now as Bruce Banner, chanting.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Hey, leave him alone!"

Beside him, Black Widow stirred, rubbing her head the same way Steve had done only moments before. Clint groaned. Nick Fury blinked his eye furiously. Thor sat up and bellowed;

"Brother! How dare you harm my friends!"

Even with all the commotion, Tony, still in his Iron man suit, and Bruce didn't awake. Loki chuckled at his brother's outburst.

"Oh, brother. You cannot do anything. I have not harmed your friends." Loki's face twisted into a cruel smile. " _Yet_."

Loki gestured towards a large glass table with seven black cushioned office chairs, similar to the ones in the Helicarrier. Three on each side, one at the head, probably for Nick Fury. Just a few meters away from the opposite end of the table was a large, flat-screen TV.

"Sit, sit down," Loki said, still smiling.

Clint and Natasha crouched down before the sleeping Dr. Banner, shaking his shoulder gently. Steve went over to the still unconscious Iron Man.

"Tony? Hey, Tony?" Steve tapped the golden mask. "You in there?" Quickly, he checked the Arc Reactor in the center of the of the Suit's chest piece.

It was still glowing its regular blue.

"Stark!" Steve yelled. He kicked the arm of the Suit with a clang. "STARK!"

"What the-" Iron man began.

"Finally," Steve grumbled, turning away with a smile. "Get up."

He heard Tony attempt to move around in the suit before yelling. "JARVIS! What the hell is this?"

The British voice replied loud enough for everyone to hear. " _Sir, it appears that the Mark VII has been... paralyzed, I suppose you could put it_."

"Paralyzed? What do you mean? GET ME OUT!"

" _Yes, Sir_."

The Suit opened up, and Tony Stark hauled himself out of the armor.

"Now. What the hell is this?" He demanded.

Black Widow shook her head. "No idea. Sit down and hopefully Loki will explain."

The room was 100% blank. The walls were plain white, nothing on them. There were no doors, no windows. The only objects in the room were the table, chairs, Stark's half open Suit, another table with the flat-screen TV, and a generously placed bowl with apples.

Loki, standing before the TV, grinned like a maniac.

"You cannot escape. This has been placed under an enchantment for 12 hours. You are unable to break out until that period of time without my say so. You," He pointed at Bruce, "Cannot 'Hulk out.' I think when the time comes, you will appreciate it."

The team frowned.

"You will watch three movies." He said.

"Really?" Clint shrugged. "If that's what you consider punishment, then-"

"About Anthony Stark." The evil Demigod finished.

Everyone groaned, and Tony himself paled.

"Look," Clint said. "If you're gonna fight us, fight us. Don't make us watch three movies about..." He gestured to Tony. "That _thing_."

"Seriously." Steve added. "I don't need to watch six hours of playboy Stark."

Everyone nodded, while Stark was growing paler and paled, Steve noticed.

"Yeah," the billionaire managed. "I mean, my life isn't _that_ interesting-"

"Oh, don't try to get out of it, Stark." Loki cackled. "I've had a burning hatred for you ever since New York." Stark's jaw tightened at the name of the city. " _This. Will. Break. You._ "

Then he vanished, and the first movie began to play.

"Fine," Tony said, glaring at everyone, even Fury. "Let's get this shit over with."

 **It began with the scene of a desolate landscape. Desert, with snowy mountains in the distance. Wind could be heard through the speakers. A line of vehicles were racing across the dust, leaving trails of it behind them. Suddenly music blasted through the speakers. A jeep, an Army one, crawled along the dirt trail as ACDC's Black 'n Black pumped.**

Clint jumped up. "Yeah! I love this song!"

Natasha swatted at him.

 **Kunar Province, Afghanistan, flashed up on the screen.**

Natasha gasped, Fury's eyes widened and the rest of the team's brows just furrowed in confusion.

"What?" Thor asked. "I do not understand."

"Fuuuuuckkk," Tony groaned, burying his head in his arms.

 **Suddenly they were in one of the jeep's, staring at the feet of some soldiers and a silver radio on the floor. A soldier smirked at the stereo.**

Steve tensed. These were soldiers! In the army, just like him!

 **The view moved onto someone holding a glass of scotch, which was trembling with turbulence**.

"Bet you that's Stark," Clint muttered.

 **A young soldier sitting across from the man looked at him comprehensively, before staring straight ahead again. Tony Stark flashed up onto the screen, wearing a suit and his trademark sun glasses. His eyes met the young soldier from before. The soldier quickly looked away.**

 **"I feel like you're driving me to a court martial. This is crazy. What did I do?"**

 **The soldier just stared ahead.**

 **"I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me." Tony looked towards the young soldier. "What, you're not allowed to talk?"**

Steve practically growled. "You should talk to soldiers with more respect."

Tony looked at him. "Cap, chill. This was ages ago. What year, exactly, Jay?"

" _2008, Sir_." The British AI replied.

Everyone jumped.

"You put that thing in your ear?" Fury was astounded.

Tony just shrugged.

 **"Hey, Forrest!" Tony said**.

Again, Steve nearly lost his temper.

 **"We can talk, sir." The soldier said.**

 **"Oh, I see. So it's personal?"**

"Of course it's personal," Clint mumbled before getting hit by Natasha.

 **"No, you intimidate them," a female voice sounded from the front.**

"A woman!" Thor cried. "Perhaps you should meet her?" He looked at Natasha **.**

Tony shook his head quietly.

" **Dear, God, you're a woman." Tony said, looking at her. "I honestly, I couldn't have called that. I mean I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here?"**

Fury shook his head.

 **The young soldier chuckled to himself.**

 **"I thought of you as a soldier first." Tony said.**

 **"I'm an airman," the woman said.**

 **"Well you have actually excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda... having a hard time not**

 **looking at you now. Is that weird?"**

The Avengers and (surprisingly) Nick Fury laughed.

 **Onscreen, the soldiers laughed as well.**

 **Tony grinned. "C'mon, it's okay, laugh. Hey!"**

Steve smiled. He was glad these soldiers were laughing, they deserved it.

 **One of the soldiers up front turned around slightly. "I - sir, I have a question to ask."**

 **"Yes please," Tony said.**

 **"Is it true that you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?"**

Everyone gasped. Tony grinned.

 **"That is an excellent question," Tony said, ripping off his sunglasses. "Yes and no, March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins."**

Natasha rolled her eyes at him while Clint's gleamed.

Tony held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, what can I say? I'm the worlds number one playboy," he winked.

 **The lady soldier from before who was driving smiled.**

 **"Anything else?" Tony asked.**

 **The young soldier hesitantly put his hand up.**

 **"You're kidding me with the hand up, right?" Tony said.**

This time Steve did get angry. "You should be more respectful to Soldiers!"

But Stark didn't reply. He just looked at Steve with intense but calm eyes and said,

"Mind your own business, Rogers."

The fact that he didn't reply with a snarky comment was enough to shut everyone up.

 **"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" He asked, watching Tony's face carefully.**

Steve noticed the present Tony had shut his eyes.

 **"Yes. It's very cool," Tony agreed.**

Everyone rolled their eyes but said nothing, as they too had noticed how Tony's eyes were shut tight.

 **The soldier smiled and took out a camera from his pocket, handing it to a soldier in the seat before his. "Alright," he smiled.**

 **The two leaned closer together as the young soldier brought up a hand saying, peace.**

 **"I don't wanna see this on your MySpace page," Tony said.**

Clint snorted. "MySpace? How old is this?"

" _Like I said earlier, Agent Barton, this took place in 2008,_ " JARVIS replied. Everyone except Tony flinched.

Thor and Steve exchanged confused glances. They had no idea what MySpace was.

 **"Please, no gang signs," Tony said.**

 **The soldier glanced at him nervously and put it down quickly.**

 **"No, throw it up, I'm kidding," Tony said.**

Fury sighed. "You just love to fuck with everyone, don't you?"

 **"Yeah, peace!" Tony said, as the soldier put up his sign again, beaming with a smile. "I love peace. I'd be outta a job with peace,"**

Tony, watching from behind his hands chuckled weakly. "Not now,"

 **The soldier with the camera fiddled with the button.**

 **"C'mon, c'mon! Just click it! Don't change any settings, just click it!" The young soldier told him.**

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself.

 **BOOM! A huge explosion erupted before their car.**

"Jesus Christ!" Yelled Natasha.

"What the fu-" Clint gasped.

Everyone jumped away from the TV, except Stark, who was now looking again.

 **Their were screams in the jeep as Tony stared ahead where the explosion had just been with horror.**

 **"What's going on?" He demanded.**

 **The female soldier leapt out of the car with her gun, only to be shot down immediately. The soldier who had been taking the picture turned to the young soldier.**

 **"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" He commanded. Then he too, jumped out. He was shooting at an enemy that you couldn't see with the angle. Some bullets slammed into the windshield.**

 **"Stay down!" Jimmy yelled at Tony, pushing him down.**

 **Them Jimmy too, got out, yelling, 'son of a bitch!' as he did**.

Tony tried to swallow his nausea.

"No, no!" Steve yelled. "Follow your orders! Stay!"

 **There was a orchestra of bullets outside, and Tony could hear them ricocheting off the car.**

 **"Wait wait wait, give me a gun!" Tony pleaded as Jimmy turned to face him through the window.**

 **"Stay. Here!" Jimmy shouted at him.**

 **As he turned, there was an explosion of bullets that killed the kid instantly, blood splattering on the window. Bullet holes were left in the metal, bright light filtering through them. Tony blinked violently.**

 **A ringing had begun to sound through the speakers.**

Stunned, Thor turned to Tony.

"Is that what you could hear?"

Soundlessly, Stark nodded.

 **Outside there were more explosions, the red smoke erupting just outside. Smoke billowed into the cloudless sky. There was more shouting, more gunshots, and Tony was looking round, completely panicked. More bodies collapsed to the ground, dead. There was a whistle of a shell.**

 **Then Tony himself got out, stumbling into the dust. He ducked as an explosion erupted just beside him.**

Steve stood up. "No, no, NO! Follow your orders, STAY!" He turned to the real Stark. "What is wrong with-"

He was cut off by Fury pulling him down to his seat. The director of SHIELD shook his head.

"Not now," he said, gesturing to Tony, who was frozen and staring at the screen. "Not now,"

 **Tony continued running along the battlefield, fires everywhere, shouts ringing across the valley over the explosions. There was another explosion just behind him, and Tony was thrust behind a rock. He brought out his phone and began furiously tapping. When a huge missile landed just a few meters away. It said,** ** _Stark Industries_**.

The Avengers and Fury's eyes widened, and Tony just groaned. He was not proud of the man he used to be, and so he didn't want anyone to know. And yet here they were, watching a movie all about it.

 **The missile whistled, getting louder by the second. Tony scrambled away, eyeing it with horror.**

"GET AWAY!" Clint practically screamed.

 **Tony let out a strangled cry as he was thrown back by the impact. He landed flat on his back, covered in dust. He groaned slightly, shifting his head, eyes closed. The ringing was back, louder now.**

 **Tony moaned, gasping slightly for air as he forced his eyes open. He blinked and stared around, all though it was clear he was not seeing much.**

 **Tony tried to catch his breath before seemingly noticing a pain in his chest. He brought a hand to his white shirt, which was now stained red, and opened it up. A bulletproof vest was pierced and the black material was getting flooded with crimson blood.**

 **Tony gasped and leaned back into the dirt, seemingly accepting his death.**

 **The screen faded into white as people chanted in a different language, the voices growing louder, shouting now**.

Tony cradled his head, clearly the voices were triggering an unpleasant memory.

 **Suddenly the white shifted into a crosshatched gold, obviously from Tony's perspective. The camera shifted and all of a sudden they were staring at a sac being lifted from the billionaire's head, leaving his hair matted, a cut on the temple seeping down his face. Cuts were everywhere on his face, deep crimson gashes that ruined his handsome complexion. In the background you could see armed soldiers, guarding Tony.**

 **A voice was yelling in a different language as the genius attempted to blink the blurriness away from his eyes.**

"What language is that?" Bruce asked, trembling slightly.

"And what does it mean?" Steve asked.

Tony just shook his head. Dr. Banner rubbed his arm comfortingly.

 **Tony looked about, head lolling. It was clear he was only half-conscious. A gun point was hovering just by his head, near his bleeding ear.**

God, Steve thought. There's blood everywhere!

 **The perspective changed to look at two men, one holding a camera that was flashing a red beacon, meaning that it was recording.**

 **The view switched back to Tony, who's eyes were narrowed with hatred but unfocused, disoriented with pain.**

 **It zoomed out, showing at least three soldiers with bandannas over their mouths, guns pointed at Tony. A man who was doing all the yelling in the other language stood beside them, shouting off a piece of paper. The genius glared into the camera, eyes burning with rage and fear. The screen went black, and the words, IRON MAN, flashed up on the screen.**

Everyone turned to stare at Tony.

"That... That was just the intro?" Clint asked weakly.

"I didn't even know you were taken hostage..."

"To Afghanistan? No way..."

Nick Fury's eye burned.

"Did you not read Stark's file?" He demanded.

"We did! Uh - I did, at least," Hawkeye defended. "But there was nothing there. At least, nothing about his... past."

Bruce agreed. "Yeah. It's nearly empty. It just mentioned how the suit worked, where he lives, his birthday, and, uh..." He glanced towards the billionaire." His arrogant tendencies."

Thor and Steve nodded. "Same for us."

They all turned to the genius. He grinned.

"I may have hacked SHIELD and changed a few things around."

Fury sighed.

Okay, please review or favourite!


	2. Chapter 2

Here you go! I worked really hard on this chappie! Over 6,500 words for one chapter. If you ask me, that's pretty amazing for my standards; I have a really low attention span. Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far, reviewed, favorited and followed. It really makes my day. 

Someone asked whether or not there will be any of the new Avengers coming into the story. The answer is no, only the originals (Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye). I may consider bringing in Pepper or Rhodey in later, though. Tell me what you think. This is set a little bit after Iron Man 3 and before Age of Ultron.

ENJOY!

 **The movie continued, showing a stage with two screens on either side of a stand. People were seated at tables, applaud ringing through the hall. Las Vegas, 36 hours earlier, flashed up on the screen.**

 **"Tony Stark," a narrator said. "Visionary. Genius. American patriot."**

The Avengers raised their eyebrows. Tony grinned.

 **"Even from an early age, the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board."**

"What?" Clint gasped. "Four?"

Tony just shook his head. "Genius, remember, Bird Brain?

" **At age six, his first engine. And at seventeen, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT."**

"Seventeen?" Everyone except Thor and of course, Tony gaped at the screen.

"Guys," Tony said. "I'm a genius. Do I have to tell you what that means?"

 **"Then, the passing of a titan. Howard Stark's life long friend and ally Obadiah Stane, steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder. Until at age 21, the prodigal son returns, and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries. With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry, by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe."**

 **As the narrator spoke, images flashed up on the screen. Tony as a kid, Howard Stark pointing at a chalk board, Howard and Tony on a magazine cover when Tony was six, a picture of Tony beside a robot, and a newspaper article over Tony's parents death.**

 **'Howard and Maria Stark die in a car accident', it was titled.**

Steve bit his lip and turned to look at Tony, who Steve was expecting to look just a little bit sad, looked absolutely fine. Steve frowned. Didn't Stark care about his parents? He knew Howard was a great man, but then again, no one ever mentioned Howard in front of Tony. He would have to ask why later.

 **The slideshow finished with another round of applause.**

 **"As liaison to Stark Industries," Rhodes began.**

"RHODEY!" Stark grinned. "Hey, I never got to hear this speech."

 **"I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark!"**

 **There was another round of applause from the audience, this times Rhodes joining them. He looked round, holding the trophy up. "Tony?" He sounded desperate.**

Natasha punched Stark. "You didn't show up, did you?"

Tony chuckled. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

 **Rhodes looked at the audience with a strained smile. The camera focused on a bearded man shaking his head in the audience, someone who the Avengers recognized as Obadiah Stane from the slideshow.**

Steve noticed Tony gritting his teeth and glaring at the man.

"Son of a bitch," Tony muttered.

Steve frowned. Wasn't this man supposed to be his friend, his assistant? He was about to ask when he caught Natasha sending the genius a sympathetic smile, so he said nothing. He had a hunch that the Black Widow had read the file before Tony hacked in, and knew everything.

 **Rhodes licked his lips and looked embarrassed. Sighing, Obadiah stood up from his seat and made his way over to the podium, still among the applaud.**

 **He walked up to Rhodes and smiled, taking the award and fondling it in his hand.**

 **"Thank you, Kernel, this is beautiful, thank you. Thank you all very much, this is wonderful."**

 **Obadiah held out the award as he spoke;**

 **"Well, I'm not Tony Stark." The audience chuckled. "Uh, but, if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I would feel, and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award. You know, the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing; he's always working.**

Steve laughed. "Well, he's not wrong."

 **Suddenly the camera changed to a casino where Tony was rolling a dice, surrounded by at least three very attractive women.**

Tony groaned and Steve blinked.

"Maybe he is wrong," Clint said.

 **"Work it!" Tony cried as he turned to the ever-growing mob behind him, which cheered loudly.**

 **Cheerful jazz music pumped and Tony grinned in his (as always) sunglasses. The crowd clapped.**

 **"C'mon," one lady said, attempting to drag him away from the table.**

 **"We should stay till morning," Tony said, facing her.**

 **Suddenly Rhodes appeared behind them, and they broke apart.**

 **"You are unbelievable!" He said, glaring.**

 **"Oh no!" Tony said, facing his friend. "Did they rope you into this?"**

 **Rhodes shook his head.**

 **"Nobody roped me into anything. But they told me, that if I'd presented you with the award, you'd be deeply honored."**

 **"Of course I'd be deeply honored," Tony agreed.**

Natasha, Fury, Clint, Bruce and Steve all rolled their eyes simultaneously.

 **"And it's you! That's great! So - when do we do it?"**

 **"It's right here," Rhodes said to Tony as the billionaire turned to someone out of shot.**

 **"Uh, yeah, one more round,"**

 **"There you go," the Kernel said, handing it to Tony.**

 **"There it is," Tony agreed. "That was easy. I'm so sorry."**

 **"Yeah. It's okay," Rhodes said.**

"No, it's not." Clint sighed. "Dude, you get the _Apogee Award._ That's insane. And you don't even care?"

Tony shrugged. "I have tons,"

Clint shook his head in exasperation.

 **"Wow. Would you look at that? That's... something else. Not like I got any of those floating about," Tony said sarcastically, handing the girl next to him the trophy.**

"And you aren't even grateful," Natasha sighed.

 **"All right, ride!"**

 **Tony scooped up a dice and held it up to the same woman holding the trophy.**

 **"Give me a hand, will you?" The girl blowed on the dice, and stared up at the genius seductively. "Okay, you too."**

 **Tony held it up to Rhodes' mouth.**

 **"I don't blow on a man's dice, he protested. Tony thrust his clenched hand further to the man's mouth, raising his eyebrows. "I don't-"**

 **The Kernel pushed Tony's hand away, causing the dice to be thrown down the table.**

 **"And it's the Lieutenant Colonel's Rhodes throw, and..."**

 **The dice stopped.**

"That's a shit throw," Clint muttered, before being slapped by Natasha.

 **"That's what happens," The Colonel shrugged.**

 **"Worse things have happened," Tony gave him a look. "I think we're gonna be fine. Colour me up, will you?"**

 **Suddenly the view switched to Tony and the Kernel walking along the casino, followed closely by multiple guards.**

"Well, at least you've got the award now," Steve said.

Tony scowled at him.

 **"This is where I exit," Tony said.**

 **"Tomorrow don't be late," Rhodey reminded Tony.**

 **"Yeah, you can count on it," Tony grinned.**

 **"I'm serious."**

 **"I know, I know."**

"He's gonna be late," Thor confirmed.

Tony faked a look of hurt. "Hey, do you have _that_ little doubt in me?"

Everyone raised their eyebrows at him.

He laughed. "Okay, I was a little late."

 **"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. There you go." Tony said, passing his newly won award to a man dressed as the great Roman ruler, Caesar.**

Clint stared at Tony with horror. "What is wrong with you? That was the freakin' _Apogee award_!"

Tony just chuckled. "You get used to it when you're a genius, Bird Brain."

 **Tony and his group of bodyguards walked outside to a fancy, sleek limousine. Tony was about to get in, when a blonde woman approached them, crying;**

 **"Mr. Stark, excuse me, Mr. Stark!" An attractive young lady smiled, slightly out of breath. "Christine Everheart, Vanity Fair magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"**

 **Tony had tilted his head to a man who was recognized as Happy.**

 **"She's cute," Happy mumbled.**

 **"She's alright?" He mumbled back. Then turning to Christine with a smile and a much louder, 'Hi!'**

 **"Hi,"**

 **"Yeah, okay, go." Tony said.**

 **"You've been called the Da Vinci of our time," Christine said.**

"Wow," Steve breathed. "Really?"

His impressed look was brought to a halt by Stark's smirk.

" **What do you think of that?" The reporter finished.**

 **"Absolutely ridiculous,"**

"What!?" Clint spluttered.

" **I don't paint."**

"Dude!"

Stark just rolled his eyes. "Bird Brain. Genius. Need I repeat?"

 **"And what do you say to your other nickname, Merchant of Death?"**

"What?" This time it was Steve.

Tony groaned. "I hate myself."

 **"That's not bad," he said, nodding. "Let me guess... Berkeley?"**

 **"Brown, actually," Christine corrected.**

 **"Well, Ms. Brown, it's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, we'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."**

 **"Rehearse that much?" Christine raised her eyebrows.**

 **"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime," Tony explained.**

 **"I'd like to see that."**

 **"I'd like to show you firsthand."**

 **"All I want is the serious answer," Christine said.**

 **"Okay, here is serious. My old man had a philosophy: 'Peace means having a bigger**

 **stick than the other guy.'"**

Steve frowned. That didn't sound like Howard! Howard Stark was much... nicer than that.

 **"That's a great line coming from the guy who sells the sticks," Christine said.**

 **Tony sighed. "My father helped defeat Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."**

 **"And a lot of people would call that war profiteering,"**

"Oooh!" Yelled Clint, before getting punched, (rather painfully), by Natasha.

"Shut up, will you?" She commanded.

"Stop bickering!" Nick yelled, and they both fell silent.

 **Tony shifted his weight, clearly getting impatient, and ripped off his sunglasses.**

 **"Tell me, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology? Or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs: military funding, honey."**

 **"Wow." Christine raised her eyebrows. "You ever lose an hour of sleep in your life?"**

 **Offscreen, Tony groaned slightly. "Oh, millions, darling, millions."**

Nick Fury shot him a look, half a look of, 'shut up or you die,' and the other half a slightly concerned glance.

 **But onscreen Tony just smirked. "I'd be prepared to lose a few with you,"**

"Smooth, Stark, smooth," Clint admired.

"Very smooth," Fury agreed, much to the surprise of the Avengers.

" **All of a sudden the scene changed to Tony's bed, where the couple were violently smothering each other with kisses, Christine on top.**

"Oh, oh, NO!" Clint cried, covering his eyes. "I did not need to see that!"

Thor looked horrified. "But what about Lady Pepper!?"

Tony chuckled. "This was before Pepper, Point-Blank. 2008, remember?"

 **Sensual noises were coming from the couple as they tangled themselves in each other, before Tony rolled over so he was on top and off the bed, Tony laughing loudly.**

Tony shrugged. "Worlds number one playboy, remember?"

 **The scene changed to Christine alone, naked in the white sheets. Lights flickered on, and the blonde jumped.**

 **"Good morning."**

"JARVIS!" The Avengers yelled.

The AI clucked in Tony's earpiece. " _Nice to know I'm so loved, Sir._ "

"Oh you are," Tony agreed, grinning.

" _Thank you, Sir._ " The affection in JARVIS' British voice was impossible to miss.

"You had JARVIS in 2008?" Fury was surprised.

"Of course!" Tony said. "Got Jay on... what was it, 2001, 21st July?"

" _Yes Sir. You acquired me at exactly 03:46 am on 21st July, 2001_." The AI confirmed.

The team gaped at Tony.

"What?" He demanded. "Why are you staring at me like that? JARVIS?"

"You-you..." Clint spluttered. "You remembered someone's birthday!?"

Tony just frowned at them. "Of course. I know all my bots' birthdays."

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU KNOW OURS!?" Clint yelled.

Tony just stared at him like he had gone insane. "I didn't create you," he said simply.

"Oh my god," Clint sank down to his seat. "I give up. I really do. Something's wrong with you, Stark."

"Easy for you to say, Bird Brain." Tony was about to begin one of his well known rants, before he was cut off by JARVIS.

" _Sir, I would advise you to be quiet and continue watching the movie._ "

"Uh... JARVIS, did you just tell me to shut up? Because, I swear I will donate you to a community college-"

" _Sir_."

Tony sighed. "Yes, JARVIS."

 **"It's 7 a.m. The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered surf conditions are fair with waist to sholder highlines, high tide will be at 10:52 a.m." Onscreen JARVIS continued.**

 **Christine sat up as JARVIS was speaking, watching as the windows were unfaded, revealing a beautiful beach coastline and pristine blue sea. Christine stared out of the window, wrapped in a white duvet.**

 **The camera zoomed out, revealing a huge white mansion, perched just above the sea. A pool could be seen among the modern marble architecture.**

"That's your house?" Gasped Bruce.

Everyone was staring at the screen with wonder, apart from Natasha and Fury, who had been there.

"Why don't we live the there?" Clint demanded.

"It, um, doesn't exist anymore," Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You'll probably see."

 **The words, Malibu, California, flashed onto the screen, before diving back into the house, to a fancy living room. Christine, wearing a short purple robe wandered into it, calling;**

 **"Tony? Hey, Tony?"**

 **She walked down a corridor, admiring a piece of art, before staring at some sort of scanning device**.

"Don't touch that," Tony muttered.

 **Nervously, Christine placed a single finger on it, before recoiling immediately, the device flashing red as JARVIS' voice rang through the house.**

 **"** ** _You are not authorized to access that area_** **,"**

"Told you so," Tony mumbled.

 **"Jesus," Christine muttered.**

 **"That's JARVIS." A smart lady in a black skirt and strawberry blonde hair said.**

"Lady Pepper!" Thor bellowed.

 **"He runs the house," she explained**.

" _Hear that Sir? I run the house_ ," JARVIS said with smugness supposedly impossible for an AI.

"Oh, be quiet," Tony said trying to look annoyed. But Natasha couldn't help but notice the fond smile on Tony's face, and the fact the genius didn't actually tell the AI to mute.

 **"I've got your clothes here, they've been dry cleaned and pressed. And there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go." Pepper said.**

 **"So you must be the famous Pepper Potts," Christine said, waving a finger at her.**

"Damn right she is," Tony grinned in such a way, it reminded Steve of a devil.

 **"Indeed I am," Pepper agreed.**

 **"After all these years, Tony still has you doing the dry cleaning?" Christine asks, with a slight sneer.**

"Oh, BURN!" Clint yelled.

Tony shook his head vigorously. "No, no, I get one of my Bots to do it. Duh."

Everyone just stared at the billionaire, slightly shaking their heads.

 **"I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires." Pepper said, completely unfazed. "Including occasionally taking out the trash, will that be all?" Pepper nodded slightly towards the door.**

"OH OH, BITCH FIGHT!" Clint whooped. Natasha slapped him, hard.

Tony grinned. "That's my girl," he said proudly.

 **The camera suddenly switched to Tony, who was listening to some rather loud rock music while tinkering with a car's engine. Holding part of the engine, Tony turned to a screen.**

 **"Give me an exploded view,"**

 **"The compression in cylinder 3 appears to be low," JARVIS commented.**

 **"Note that."**

 **Pepper Potts was walking down the steps to Tony's lab, muttering on the phone;**

 **"Okay, I'll keep you posted." Pepper snapped the phone shut.**

 **"Don't turn down my music," Tony said, not turning round.**

 **"You are supposed to be half way around the world right now." She said pointedly.**

 **"How'd she take it?" Tony interrupted.**

 **"Like a champ."**

 **"Why're you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony asked, still examining his engine parts**.

"Oh for God's sake, just go," Natasha sighed.

"The flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

Steve and Fury rolled their eyes simultaneously.

 **"That's funny... I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there." Tony said, frowning slightly.**

Clint shrugged and looked at Tony. "You do have a point,"

"Finally!" Tony threw his hands up in the air. "Someone realizes!" Tony's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you do have a brain, Legolas,"

"Oh," Clint growled. "Hardy-hardy-har."

 **"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you outta the door," Pepper began.**

 **"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane before it departs before you leave? Tony asked, turning to face his assistant.**

 **"Larry called, he's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings, do you want it, yes or no?"**

 **"Is it a good representation of his Spring Period?" Tony asked, standing now, wiping oil from his hands with a cloth.**

 **"Uh, no the "Springs" is actually the neighborhood in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season. I think it's a fair example... I think it's incredibly overpriced."**

 **"I need it. Buy it, store it." He said as he stood up and walked past her to another section of his lab.**

"Typical Stark," Bruce sighed.

 **"Okay..." Pepper scribbled something down in her notebook and followed Tony. "The MI commencement speech-"**

 **"Is in June," Tony interrupted. "please, don't harangue me about that stuff."**

 **"Well, they are haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes..."**

The Avengers laughed.

 **Tony, who had been walking in the opposite direction from Pepper, turned.**

 **She held out a document. "I need you to sign this before you get on the plane,"**

 **Tony looked at her and sighed. "What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"**

 **Pepper raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, I do."**

 **"I don't like it when you have plans."**

"Oh for Gods sake!" Cried Natasha, glaring at Stark.

Clint nudged Bruce. "Betchyou it's her Birthday."

But Dr. Banner sighed. "It probably is."

 **"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."**

"Told you," Hawkeye hissed.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "I never said you were wrong."

 **"It's your birthday?"**

Steve sighed, exasperated. "You can remember JARVIS' birthday, but not your assistant? Really?"

Tony stared at him. "I already told you. I didn't create her."

Everyone felt like ripping their hair out with frustration.

" **Yes." Pepper replied.**

 **"I knew that. Already?" Tony frowned.**

 **"Yeah, isn't that strange, it's the same day as last year." Pepper rolled her eyes.**

 **"Well, get yourself something nice from me."**

 **"I already did."**

 **"And?"**

 **"Oh, it was very nice," Pepper nodded. "Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark." She smiled.**

 **"You're welcome, Ms. Potts," Tony said softly.**

 **Pepper handed Tony a miniature cup of coffee, which Tony downed in an instant.**

 **"Okay," he said, handing it back. He walked to the exit, and the music kicked back on**.

 **The camera was switched to a road along a cliff side, with a roaring sports car zipping along. Just behind, a black Limousine followed, desperate to keep up.**

"Nice cars," Clint breathed.

Tony smirked.

 **The silver sports car pulled over by a Tarmac floor, closely tailed by the black Limousine. Up by a plane on the concrete, Rhodey glowered.**

 **"You're good!" Tony complimented, as he slammed the car door shut." I thought I lost you back there."**

 **"You did sir," Happy said. "I had to cut across Mujave."**

 **"Ah, I gotcha, I gotcha," Tony laughed, and he walked towards the staircase leading to the planes door.**

 **"What's wrong with you?" Cried Rhodey as Tony approached him, clearly pissed off.**

 **"What?" Tony asked, Happy following him with his bags.**

 **"Three hours," Rhodey growled.**

The Avengers were impressed.

"Three hours?" Steve asked, eyebrows raised.

Tony shrugged. "I've done worse."

"How much worse?" Thor asked.

Tony chuckled. "I forgot completely.

 **"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair." Tony excused.**

 **"For three hours?" Rhodey gave him a, yeah right look. "For three hours you've got me standing here,"**

 **"I'm waiting on you now," Tony said, pushing past into the plane, Happy following closely with two briefcases. "Let's go, c'mon. Wheels up, let's Rock and Roll!"**

 **The view switched to an aerial view of the plane flying high up in the sky, it's side imprinted with, Stark Industries. They were way up above the clouds.**

 **Then the view changed to inside the airborne plane, where Stark and Rhodes were sitting by the Windows as a pretty stewardess layer out the cutlery.**

 **"What you reading, platypus?"**

Thor frowned.

 **"Nothing," Rhodey replied.**

 **"Oh come on, sourpatch! Don't be mad!" Tony said.**

"He has every right to be mad." Bruce said to Tony.

 **"I told you I'm not mad, I'm indifferent. Okay?"**

 **"I said I was sorry,"**

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Sorry doesn't fix everything, genius."

 **"Good morning, Mr. Stark," another's attractive stewardess smiled at Tony.**

 **"No need to apologize," Rhodey began.**

 **"Hi, I said I was sorry," Tony said, gesturing to his friend, ignoring whatever he was saying.**

 **"I'm just indifferent right now," Tony continued.**

 **"Hot towel?" The stewardess asked, holding out a tray.**

 **"Ooh, yes please," Tony said plucking one off the tray.**

 **"-you don't respect yourself, so I know you don't respect me," Rhodey argued.**

 **"I respect you," Tony disagreed.**

Fury snorted. "Yeah, right."

 **"You don't respect me, I'm just your babysitter and so, when you need your diaper changed," he paused to thank the lady who had just handed him a towel, "let me know and I'll get you a bottle, okay?"**

 **"Hey..." Tony said to the stewardess, completely ignoring Rhodey. "Heat up a sake, will you? Thanks for reminding me." He turned to Rhodey.**

 **"No, I'm not talking." Rhodey protested. "We're not drinking, we're working right now. And you are constitutionally incapable of being responsible."**

 **As stewardess handed Tony some Sashimi while Rhodes spoke, which he had ordered.**

 **"It'd be irresponsible not to drink at this time," Tony said. "I'm just talking about the night cup."**

 **"Hot sake?" The stewardess from earlier asked.**

 **"Yes, two please." Tony said, turning back to Rhodes.**

 **"No, just... I'm not drinking, I don't want any."**

 **A moment later the camera switched to a sofa under a flat-screen TV, where Rhodey and Tony were sitting. Rhodey was obviously very drunk, and Tony seemed to be faring better.**

"How much of that did he have?" Natasha asked, eyes wide.

Tony chuckled. "I actually had a lot more than him."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"I have not met a man who can beat your drinking skills, Man of Iron," Thor said.

Tony winked.

 **"That's what I'm talking about. When I get up in the morning, and I'm putting on my uniform,**

 **you know what I recognize? I see in that mirror that every person that's got this uniform will have my back!" Rhodey slurred to Tony, who clearly wasn't interested.**

 **"Oh, here we go again," Tony grumbled as the camera zoomed out, music pumping. "I'm not like you,"**

Everyone laughed.

 **"No, you don't have to be like me. But you're more than what you are, you just don't see it." Rhodey continued**

 **"Excuse me, but I'm a little distracted here," Tony said, gesturing to the Stewardess' who were now dancing with their tops rolled up to show their bellies, each holding a glass of champagne. A pole slid up, and one began to pole dance, rather sexily.**

 **"No, you can't be distracted right now.** ** _LISTEN TO ME!_** **" Rhodey demanded.**

"Stark never listens to anyone." Bruce told onscreen Rhodey.

 **The view shifted to the now landed plane on a Tarmac ground. Groups of soldiers were scattered everywhere, jeeps were lined up, some rolling down the concrete. In the distance, some snowy mountains loomed.**

 **Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, flashed up on the screen.**

Everyone winced, reminded of the bombs and the battle that had taken place there.

 **Tony walked out onto his plane's staircase, putting on his sunglasses. A group of well organized soldiers stood waiting for him just outside. Tony approached a bald man with glasses.**

 **"General," he said, shaking the man's hand.**

 **"Welcome, Mr. Stark," the General said. "I look forward to your weapons presentation."**

Tony winced, and Thor, Bruce, Clint and Steve frowned.

 **"Thank you," Tony said.**

 **Then the camera changed to Tony standing in his suit and tie and sunglasses before a long desolate valley, at the foot of the snowy mountains. Stark looked rather out of place with his fancy clothing and neat manner.**

 **"Is it better to be feared or respected?" Tony asked.**

Present Tony groaned. Oh how he hated that Jericho missile!

 **"And I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries freedom line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how dad did it,"**

Steve frowned. Howard said that?

 **"that's how America does it... and it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves." Tony waved at a soldier standing by the missile, and a mechanical humming began. All soldiers turned to watch. The missile was raised, and dramatic music pumped through the speakers.**

Tony felt like he was going to be sick.

 **The missile was shot into the air, leaving a trail of white vapor behind. In the air, the missile opened up its first layer of metal, and multiple other smaller but identical missiles sailed through the air.**

Fury's eye widened. "Oh my god, Stark."

 **Then thousands of flares were released, whistling as they headed red, heading ever closer to the mountain side. The camera flicked back to Tony, who hadn't moved even to admire his work.**

 **"For your consideration, the Jericho missile." Tony raised his arms as explosions erupted behind him, the impact so hard, all the soldiers hats' were ripped right off their shaved heads. The soil behind erupted, and the soldiers were enveloped in a cloud of dust.**

The Avengers were speechless.

"You-you made that?" Clint asked weakly.

Tony didn't answer.

"That's... horrible..." Steve said.

Tony nodded.

"Thank the Gods you're on our side!" Thor clapped Tony on the back, but he was clearly shocked.

 **The camera switched to Tony opening a briefcase that acted like a fridge, revealing drinks and glasses, grabbing some scotch.**

 **"We throw one of these in with every purchase of 500 million or more. To peace!" Tony said, raising his glass. The soldiers stared at the briefcase.**

 **Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of flip phone, with a screen on the top. A man that was recognized as Obadiah Stane was lying in bed.**

 **"Tony!" He cried.**

Steve noticed the way Tony's fists clenched when he saw the man. Steve had a hunch that this man had done something to Tony, but he wasn't sure what.

 **"Obie, what are you doing up?" Tony asked the man.**

 **"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How did it go?"**

 **"Went great, looks like it'll be an early Christmas."**

 **"Hey way to go, my boy. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Obie said.**

Tony froze. "Oh my god," he muttered. "That little... bastard."

The hurt in Tony's voice was impossible to miss, but it seemed like only Steve could hear it, (he was sitting next to Stark.). Without thinking, Steve rubbed Tony's arm and gave him a comforting smile. Much to his surprise, Tony smiled back.

 **"Hey, why aren't you wearing those pyjamas I got you?" Tony began, before being cut off.**

 **"Good night, Tony."**

 **Tony got into the car as a soldier shut the door.**

 **"Hey, Tony." Rhodey said as Tony leant through the window.**

 **"I'm sorry, but this is the fun-vee. The hum-drum-vee is back there."**

Clint and Bruce laughed slightly. But it was mostly quiet; the heroes knew what was coming.

 **Rhodey ignored him. "Nice job," he said, as the engine started. Tony gave him a slight nod, acknowledging that his friend was complimenting him.**

 **"See you back at base." Tony smiled.**

"Oh, I wish," Present Tony said, sighing.

 **Black n' Black began playing again, and then the screen went back to the dusty road with all the army jeeps. There was the same explosion that started it all, with a startling 'boom' and a fiery cloud engulfing the cars.**

 **All of a sudden there was a static sort of noise with voices. Needles and blood, flashes of doctors and Tony's chest. It zoomed in on the billionaire's chest as a hand reached down and placed it into the familiar chest cavity, as Tony screamed in agony, the sound of a saw slicing through something.**

Steve stared with utter horror. The pain in Tony's scream was unbelievably inhumane. That was how he got the arc reactor? While he was awake?

"They did that..." Bruce was shaking from head to toe. "WITHOUT DRUGS!? ARE THEY _INSANE_!? That much blood loss... Tony, you should have died. No one should be able to survive that operation!"

Clint was uncharacteristically angry. "THEY DUG A FUCKING HOLE IN YOUR CHEST WHILE YOU WERE _AWAKE_!? WHAT THE _FUCK_!?"

The rest were just silent.

"There was nothing about that in the report..." Fury stammered.

Tony sighed slightly. "Guys, think about it. There's no way they would be able to knock me out with pills or anything, it's a terrorist camp in the middle of the mountains. I mean, they didn't even have painkillers."

"They didn't have painkillers..." Bruce shook his head. Steve was sure that he would have hulked out by now if it hadn't been for Loki's spell. "So you had to deal with pain of a fucking hole in your fucking chest... with no drugs... that could've gotten so easily infected..."

 **The scene finished with someone placing a cloth over Tony's mouth, and he passed out, breathing out deeply.**

"That was... most disturbing." Thor concluded anxiously.

Everyone glanced at Tony, who was fingering his arc reactor, his breathing slightly faster than usual, eyes wide with fear. Since Steve was sitting beside him, he could hear JARVIS speaking quietly into Tony's ear, but he couldn't quite make out the words. But the AI seemed to smooth Tony's nerves, and Steve didn't want to make it any worse, so he said nothing.

 **The screen faded to black. The darkness morphed into staring right at Tony, who was laying unconscious on the bed. A tube was going up his nose. Suddenly the genius' eyes flicked open. He looked around, eyes wide, fingers curling. He coughed slightly, and seemed to notice the tube.**

 **"Uurgh," he spluttered and grabbed ahold of it.**

"Oh no, please don't," Natasha muttered, partly covering her eyes.

 **He did. Pulling the tube from his nostril, he coughed again, and this time a puff was released into the air, revealing how cold it was. When the tube finally came out completely, Tony ripped the tape off his nose, blinking violently.**

 **Tony groaned slightly and reached to a table to the right of him, hand attempting to grasp a cup of water. Tony only managed to knock it off the table, gasping for air.**

 **He coughed a little more violently, more steam puffed in the air.**

 **The view switched to a man shaving in a broken mirror shard. His skin was dark, he wore glasses and was partly bald. Tony attempted to reach down and grab the cup off the floor, but stopped abruptly when he felt something pull.**

 **"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man shaving said.**

 **Suddenly there was the point of view from the side. A wire was trailing from Tony's chest to a... car battery**.

Bruce gasped. "A-a car battery?"

Clint stared. "That isn't the arc reactor."

 **Tony grasped the wire, and suddenly began to claw at his shirt. He pulled away the dirty robe, and ripped the bandages.**

The Avengers watched, horrified.

 **Tony was grunting, gasping for air and it was clear just these small movements caused him a lot of pain. And suddenly he was in, and the screen zoomed in on the magnet in his chest. It was rusted, an ugly orange shade, and the bolts were clunky. Dried blood outlined the side, and it was obvious it had been an incredibly painful operation.**

"They sawed open your chest... for a car battery," Steve breathed with utter horror.

Dr. Banner lost it.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS!? THAT RUST ALONE COULD'VE KILLED YOU!"

Tony muttered something unintelligible.

"Calm down," Fury said. "Stark didn't choose to put that in there." But the director was watching the billionaire carefully.

Tony was hiding his face, and Steve could hear JARVIS muttering in his ear.

 **Tony gasped with pain and horror. A close up on his face revealed just how shocked he was. The pain was impossible to miss; he had been through hell.**

 **The camera switched to someone kindling a small fire, shoving more sticks into the golden fire. The person was whistling a merry tune, out of place in the dark and miserable cave.**

 **The camera went up to reveal Tony sitting up on his bed, fingering whatever was in his chest. The man with the fire was the same man who had been shaving.**

 **"What the hell'd you to to me?" Tony asked weakly.**

 **The man chuckled. "What I do? What I do was save your life," he looked at Tony. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left in there. And it's headed into your atrial septum."**

Everyone looked at Bruce. "Heart," he said.

 **"Here, wanna see? I have a souvenir. Take a look." The man showed Tony a glass bottle with tiny, sharp metal shards in it.**

Steve felt sick.

"That... that's in your body?" Natasha looked like she was going to throw up.

"Well..." Tony hesitated. "Not all of it that was there then. I had an operation. But there was some that they would never be able to get out, so... yeah, it's still in my body."

"Oh my God," Clint was horrified.

Steve tried to rid of his nausea. But, as he looked at Tony beside him, a wave of sickening thoughts filled him. That metal was still inside Tony. It was inside him.

" **I have seen many injuries like that in my village," the man said. "We call them the walking dead. Because it takes about a week for the balls to reach the vital organs,"**

"I'm gonna throw up," Natasha muttered.

 **"What is this?" Tony asked.**

 **"That is an electromagnet." The man replied.**

"Oh!" Bruce cried, understanding.

 **"Hooked up to a car battery," the man finished. "And it's keeping the shrapnel from reaching your heart."**

 **Tony shifted uncomfortably and stared down at his chest. He buttoned up his shirt and eyed a camera nervously.**

 **"That's right," the man said, following Tony's gaze. "Smile. We met once before, you know. At the technical conference in Bern."**

 **"I don't remember."**

Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "I do now,"

 **"You wouldn't." The man smiled. "If I had been that drunk, I would not have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."**

Tony chuckled. "You'd be surprised what I can do when I'm drunk."

" _Yes, indeed, Sir,_ " JARVIS agreed. " _If I do recall correctly, didn't you assemble the Mark IV when you were drunk? Including the blasters_?"

"Who said you could say that? Listen here Jay, I will donate you to-"

"Oh, stop your bickering," Steve complained.

 **"Where are we?"**

 **Suddenly something opened with a loud clash. The man and Tony tensed.**

 **Someone at the door yelled something in a different language.**

 **"Come on, stand up," the man hissed, pulling Tony. "Stand up! Do as I do."**

 **Tony seemed flustered as the man dragged him to his feet.**

 **"Come on! Hands up!" The man ordered.**

 **Metal doors creaked open, revealing a man and two armed soldiers. More armed soldiers with guns approached from the back.**

 **"Those are my guns," Tony said, eyes widening. "How did they get my guns?"**

 **A plump man in a coat raised his arms and said something in a different language.**

"That's Arabic, I think." Natasha whispered to Clint.

 **He walked up to to Tony and the shaving man, still speaking. Soldiers followed him, hands on their guns. As the man finished his sentence, only one word could be understood. 'Stark'. The man looked Tony in the eye and continued speaking in a way one would speak a speech, or perhaps a lecture. His tone wasn't threatening, but not friendly either.**

 **"He says welcome Tony Stark," the shaving man said, hands on his head. "The most famous mass murderer in the history of America, he is honored."**

 **The man gestured to Tony with a white scroll in his hand. He was smiling as he spoke.**

 **The shaving man translated again; "He wants you to build a missile. The Jericho missile. That you demonstrated."**

Everyone's eyes widened, even Natasha's and Fury's, who knew the story.

 **The man handed the shaving man the scroll he had been holding.**

 **"This one." The shaving man unraveled the scrap of paper the man had given him and showed it to Tony.**

 **Sure enough, it was the Jericho missile that Tony had demonstrated earlier at the Base.**

 **Tony stared at it, hands still on his head. The man raised his eyebrows expectantly. Tony frowned.**

 **"I refuse,"**

"NO!" Clint practically screamed. "THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, STARK! DO YOU HAVE A _DEATH WISH_!?"

Fury shook his head. "Sometimes for a genius, you can be incredibly stupid, Tony."

"Hey!" Tony protested.

 **The man stared at him.**

I'm sorry if there are any typos, I'm writing this on an iPad and it keeps glitching, which is really frustrating. Hope you enjoyed it. Review, favourite, follow!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone! Sorry the chapter's so short compared to the last one. Thank you for your reviews follows and favourites, it really motivates me :)

 **Suddenly the scene changed. It was water. Tony's face suddenly appeared in that same water, causing the liquid to whirl violently. Hands were pushing him down, holding him down in that tub of water. Shouts were heard from above, but they sounded foggy and far away. Tony yelled in the water, in protest, but it only caused him to gulp down more of it.**

 **Hands suddenly dragged him up to the surface, to air, and Tony gasped, choking for air. He spat out water, spraying the guards with half water, half saliva. A man's face flashed into view, he was smiling a cruel, almost psychopathic smile.**

 **They pushed him down again. The electromagnet buzzed, sending an electric shock through the water and through Tony. His entire body convulsed, and he screamed with pain, gulping down even more water.**

 **All of a sudden, it was like you could see into Tony's head. A flash of Pepper Potts, and her voice, crying, 'Tony!'.**

The Avengers watched this with silent horror. Tony was being tortured. Tony was being tortured. _Tony was being tortured_. They didn't seem to be able to get this into their heads. How could Tony Stark, the most arrogant, rude, sarcastic and confident Avenger, go through _this_?

Drowning in their own pool of horror, the Avengers didn't notice Tony's breathing hitch up and race, they didn't notice his panicked expression, they didn't see the anxiety.

But Tony knew what was happening.

He was having another attack.

Panic attacks seemed to have become a regular thing in Tony's life. He had them around once every week, usually after a dream or something. The strange thing was, there were only two people in the entire world that could calm him down. JARVIS, the AI, and Harley Keener, the child.

Nope, Pepper Potts could not calm him down. In fact, she just accelerated the situation. Just seeing her made Tony even more panicky, and things got even worse if she spoke. Tony wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he didn't want her to see him weak. But she had plenty of times before. So why care now? There really wasn't a logical explanation. JARVIS could usually handle the regular ones after dreams. But on a couple of occasions, things had gotten so bad, JARVIS actually called Harley on the phone to make Tony calm down.

Pepper knew he had panic attacks. So did Rhodey. Obviously JARVIS and Harley, but no one else. Not even Bruce. Not even Fury, despite the fact he was a secret agent.

Because when Tony had attacks, he was either alone, in his bed, or in the suit. He had never had one in front of the Avengers before.

JARVIS spoke to him quickly. Speaking always helped. Just casual things made the situation seem better, more normal, more in control.

JARVIS would tell him about the news, the weather, the tower, anything that didn't involve being Iron Man. Anything that would distract Tony.

So Tony left the table a moment to go calm down. Much to his dismay, the movie paused, so there was no sneaking away. But the Avengers were still slightly shell shocked by the scene they had just seen, and they assumed it was because Tony didn't want to watch, not because he was having an attack. Not because he was panicking.

JARVIS had nearly been at the point of calling Harley, but fortunately, Tony had calmed down. Tony sat down at the table, ignoring all of his friends concerned glanced.

"That was... most disturbing," Thor repeated what he had said after the surgery scene.

Tony just nodded. "We-we can continue now,"

Steve gave the billionaire a reassuring smile.

 **Suddenly the soldiers torturing Tony hauled him out of the tub, dragging him down a dimly lit corridor. They forced a sac over his head and led him to the cave's exit. The man who had been telling Tony about the Jericho missile was in front of him. Finally, the screen filtered sunlight again.**

 **The man said something again, waving an arm behind his back. The group of soldiers restraining Tony followed him down a ramp, cut into the stone.**

 **The sac was ripped off Tony's head, revealing a very disoriented Tony. His hair was messy and he blinked furiously; the sudden sunlight was obviously painful to look at.**

 **A slight ringing echoed through the speakers. Everything suddenly went painfully bright, like a snapchat filter gone wrong, clearly what Tony could see.**

 **Everything faded into normality, and it was suddenly clear what Tony could see. Surrounded by mountains, a small camp had been made, straw and wooden stalls sheltering guns, grenades, missiles bombs, anything. Groups of people shouting in Arabic were mobbed around the stalls.**

 **One of the soldiers gave Tony a sharp shove, and Tony stumbled down the ramp, following the man who had ordered to torture him.**

"Is that a terrorist camp?" Clint asked.

Fury nodded in reply.

 **Tony slipped slightly as he walked down the hill, carrying his car battery. He looked round, clearly trying to figure out where he was. The camera scanned down one of the stalls; all the weapons had the familiar, Stark Industries, imprinted on the sides.**

 **Soldiers stopped what they were doing and stared at Tony, readying their guns.**

 **Tony was staring at the pile of weapons, his weapons, as he was lead deeper into the camp, clearly confused. Red blood had dried down the side of his left temple**.

"How did they get the weapons?" Steve wondered out loud.

 **The camera zoomed in on a bigger, newer, shinier missile that was too, created by Stark Industries. Tony was brought to a stop.**

 **The man who had ordered him to create the missile glowered at him. He shook his head slightly, and said something in Arabic.**

 **"He wants to... know what you think." The shaving man translated, glancing at Tony.**

 **Tony looked at the man and raised an eyebrow.**

 **"I think you got a lot of my weapons," Tony said simply.**

 **The shaving man told the other man what Tony said. The man replied loudly with confidence. He circled Tony. Tony turned around to face him. The shaving man was expressionless, glaring through his thin framed glasses.**

"That guy unnerves me," Clint said, gesturing to the translator who had been shaving earlier.

"Don't," Tony growled. "Insult him. He's a great guy." Tony glared at Clint. "Nothing else."

"Of course, I didn't mean to offend you," Clint began.

"Don't worry," the billionaire gave the archer a weak smile. "Just don't do it again, Legolas."

 **"He says, uh, they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," the shaving man translated. "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start**

 **working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free."**

 **The man raised his brows at Tony like, there's no way you can refuse this. He held out his hand, which Tony took.**

 **Tony smiled. "No he won't," He said through gritted teeth.**

 **"No he won't." The shaving man confirmed.**

 **The man seemed oblivious, and beamed at his Translator and Tony, nodding**.

Steve half expected Mark 7 to come bursting through the sky, envelope Tony so he could blast all these terrorists and go home. But this was in 2008. Tony hadn't created Iron Man yet. Tony was 100% helpless.

 **Soldiers watched the ordeal from a distance. The man who was watching the torture with the creepy smile was there too, eyeing the two like a hawk. He didn't smile this time.**

 **The view changed to back in the cave that Tony and the shaving man were stuck in, like a cell. It was dark, lit only by a small fire, the flames reflecting on Tony's face.**

 **"I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark," the shaving man said to Tony.**

 **Tony was wearing a dark hoodie and a beanie, with a blanket wrapped round his shoulder's**

 **Tony said nothing.**

 **"But they will never find you in these mountains," the shaving man said.**

"Oh, wow, way to kill the party man!" Clint complained.

"There was never a party to kill," Nick Fury reminded him.

 **When Tony said nothing again, the man sighed. "Look... what you just saw... that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you gonna do something about it?"**

 **"Why should I do anything?" Tony muttered, staring straight ahead. It was so quiet you could barely hear.**

Steve's jaw dropped open. Never had he heard Tony sound so hopeless. So depressed. Tony was always bouncing around, pissing everyone off, arguing with JARVIS. Sure he had moods, but this... Steve could barely recognize his friend.

 **"They're gonna kill me, you... either way, if they don't... I'll probably be dead in a week anyway."**

 **"Well then," the shaving man looked at Tony, a slight smile playing on his lips. "This is a very important week for you, isn't it?"**

 **Tony stared at the fire, only this time, the hopelessness had vanished**.

Steve smiled.

 **The camera switched to men walking along all the cavern corridors, carrying equipment, materials and tools. Anything that Tony needed.**

Steve's smile vanished. "You're making it!?"

Tony stared at the Captain. He shook his head.

"Jesus Christ. I mean, I know I'm the genius here, but... holy shit, Rogers you're being stupid." He gazed around the group. "Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by idiots. I _really_ do," he focused on Steve, and snapped. "No, I didn't build the freakin' missile. Watch the movie, Cap."

" **If this is gonna be my workstation, I want it well lit, I want all of these tools. Welding gear, I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station, I need helmets, I need goggles, I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools."**

 **Their was a view of outside the cave. The climate was very orange, dusty, very desert-like, which was rather strange as there were snowy mountains earlier.**

 **A Stark Industries missile lay on the working table. Tony, wearing gloves with the fingers cut off, carefully screwed down a screw.**

 **"How many languages do you speak?" He asked the shaving man.**

 **"A lot." He replied. "But apparently not enough for this place. They speak arabic, urdu, dari, pashto, mongolian, farsi, russian."**

"A real mix of culture," Thor commented.

 **Tony slid the explosive out of its casing as the shaving man spoke. "Who are these people?"**

 **"They are your loyal customers, sir. They call themselves The Ten Rings."**

"The Ten Rings." Steve repeated.

 **Tony looked at his friend, eyebrows raised, and pulled something out of the explosive.**

 **The camera switched to the man who had offered to let Tony go, the plump one. He and two other men were staring at a small screen that showed Tony's workshop, probably from the camera that Tony had been looking at before**.

"Oh great, you're on camera," Clint groaned. "What are you supposed to do now?"

Tony shrugged. "We mostly just ignored it, and hoped the guard was either not paying attention, or too stupid to realize what was going on."

 **"You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process?" The shaving man said, fidgeting as he watched Tony work.**

 **"Uh huh," Tony said, sliding his entire arm up an enormous green bomb**.

Natasha paled slightly. "How'd you know you weren't gonna blow yourself up?"

Tony made a face. "We didn't."

Everyone's eyes widened.

 **Tony then went to loudly pull out some more mechanism from the missile. Shaving man just watched.**

 **The scene switched to Tony sitting at a desk, carefully tugging at a pair of gears. Shaving man stood slightly to the left of him, and he was lucky he did.**

 **"Don't need this," Tony proclaimed as he tossed the metal behind him without even looking, startling the shaving man.**

 **"What is that?" The man asked.**

 **Tony looked up. "That's palladium," he said, waggling some metal in his tweezers. ".15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you break down the other eleven?"**

 **The view switched to a man watching the security feed, and he said something in his own language. Subtitles appeared. 'What are they doing?'**

 **'Working'.**

 **Then the camera went back to Tony, who was mixing something in a bowl with his palms. The shaving man then heated it over a fire, the flames crackling with delight.**

 **"Careful, careful," Tony said, as the man brought it over. "We've only got one shot at this,"**

 **"Relax, I've got steady hands." He reassured. "Why do you think you're still alive, huh?"**

 **The man began pouring the liquid cautiously into a small bowl.**

 **"What do I call you?" Tony asked, watching the liquid intently.**

 **"My name is Yinsen," he said**.

"Finally, a name!" Cheered Clint.

Tony smiled sadly.

 **"Yinsen... nice to meet you."**

 **"Nice to meet you too,"**

 **The camera zoomed in on Tony's work, he was working carefully without hesitance as he pressed a small tool to a circular metal shape. He then carefully pressed the same tool to another thinner slit of metal he was holding in his hand. Yinsen admiring his steady hand the whole way.**

 **Tony continued to work, eyebrows furrowed with concentration, brown eyes pierced with determination.**

 **Suddenly a familiar blue glow began to hum, illuminating Tony's face with a blue light**.

"The Arc Reactor," Clint breathed.

 **Tony stared down at his work and licked his lips. His face was unreadable, impossible to tell whether or not he was pleased.**

 **Yinsen joined him, crouching down to admire it. "Woah," he breathed. "That doesn't look like a Jericho missile,"**

 **"That's because it is a miniaturized Arc reactor. We got a big one powering my factory at home. It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart**."

Everyone turned to stare at Tony's chest, where the Arc Reactor glowed happily. Tony shifted uncomfortably.

"Please stop staring at my chest... thank you."

"But you made it in a cave..." Bruce shook his head. "Out of a pile of scraps. Tony, I know you're a genius, but that's flipping _insane_."

Tony grinned smugly. "What can I say? I am pretty great."

Natasha swatted at him, but she was smiling fondly.

"How did you miniaturize it?" Clint frowned.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Clint. I. Am. A. Genius."

 **"But what could it generate?" Yinsen asked, looking at Tony.**

 **"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second."**

 **"That could power your heart for fifty lifetimes." Yinsen said, frowning.**

 **"Or something big for fifty minutes" Stark said, eyes gleaming**.

"Oh," was all Steve could say.

Tony smirked at him. "Get it now, Capsicle?"

"Yeah..." Steve grumbled, glaring at the billionaire.

 **Tony placed a large heap of crumpled papers on the table, Yinsen watching.**

 **"This is our ticket outta here,"Tony said.**

 **Yinsen glanced at him. "What is it?"**

 **"Smooth it out," Tony told him.**

 **"Impressive," Yinsen breathed as a diagram of the Mark I came into view**.

Everyone chuckled.

"Damn right," Tony smirked.

Here's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed! I've figured out a rule for this FanFiction. I have to finish the chapter before posting the last one. For example, I have written chapter 4 completely before I post this. And I need to have written chapter 5 before I post chapter 4. Get it? That's why it might take a little long. And I promise next chapter is a lot longer! See you soon! Please review, follow and favourite!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the support, it's been insane! Here's the next chappie! 

ENJOY!

 **The scene changed to outside the cave, where a group of soldiers were gathered around a crackling fire in the dark. The wind whistled, and it appeared to be snowing slightly.**

Steve shuddered.

 **The camera suddenly switched to the security feed, where a blurry, pixelated Tony lay on a bed, Yinsen speaking to him, all though the feed had no audio. Tony suddenly sat up as Yinsen backed away, and there was a large glowing circle in the center of the billionaire's chest. The feed flickered slightly, and Tony stood up, and began to walk. He turned towards the security camera.**

 **The view changed to some sort of board game, with two wooden blocks and lots of little metal circles laying in between triangles carved into the wood.**

 **"Shesh Besh," Tony muttered.**

"What?" Clint looked at Tony.

"It's an Arabic board game," Tony waved away the question.

 **"Good roll," Yinsen said. "Good roll."**

 **"You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony said.**

 **"I'm from a small town called Gulmira," he said.**

"Oh," Nick breathed. " _Gulmira_."

He and Tony exchanged glances that confused the other Avengers. What happened with Gulmira?

 **"It's actually a nice place," he said, looking at the board.**

 **"You got a family?" Tony asked quietly.**

 **"Yes," Yinsen replied. "And I will see them when I leave here."**

Tony suddenly slammed a fist on the table. He covered his eyes, and muttered, "Oh, Yinsen. Why didn't you tell me? You could've..."

It made Steve wonder what happened. He could only pray the man got out alive; the Captain liked Yinsen, though he couldn't explain why.

 **"And you, Stark?"**

 **Tony looked up from the board game.**

 **"Nothing?" Yinsen asked.**

 **Tony slammed a silver circle down on the board.**

 **"No." It was barely a whisper.**

 **"So you're a man who has everything... and nothing." Yinsen raised an eyebrow.**

Tony looked away.

"I have Pepper," Steve heard Tony say, trying to reassure himself. "I have Pepper."

 **Tony just looked at Yinsen.**

 **The scene changed to the man who had offered to let him go, the plump one, and two soldiers following him with their guns, trudging down the cave. The plump man raised a hand, gesturing the soldiers to stop.**

 **He pulled open a small slit in the metal door and peered in, screwing up his eyes. He could see Yinsen reading something, and Tony welding some metal, nothing out of the ordinary. The two weren't even communicating.**

 **The plump man closed the slit and nodded to the soldiers and turned away. They walked back down the dimly lit corridor, speaking in a different language.**

 **There was a sudden scan of Tony's desk, passing tools and explosives, sheets of metal, engine parts, notes, drawings, diagrams and some sort of chest piece, with a hole in the center, presumably for the Arc Reactor. Dramatic music pumped loudly through the speakers, accompanied by the hiss of a welding machine. The camera reached the end of the table, revealing Tony wearing goggles and welding away, bright orange sparks flying. For a moment he turned to face the camera.**

Clint snickered. "You look ridiculous."

Then Natasha punched him.

 **The scene changed to the plump man and a soldier, poring over the security feed, comparing it with a picture of the Jericho missile. They spoke in Arabic, but this time subtitles appeared.**

 ** _Doesn't look anything like the photo,_** **One said.**

 _ **Maybe he modified it.**_

 _ **The tail doesn't look right.**_

 _ **It's just backwards.**_

 _ **Still doesn't look right.**_

 _ **Well, too bad.**_

"See?" Tony said. "Clueless! They're all idiots, I'm telling you."

"It is pretty impressive how dumb they're being," Fury agreed.

"Some mortals just have smaller brains," Thor declared.

Everyone snorted.

 **The scene switched to outside, it was dark again, the only source of light a fire, with multiple men warming crouched down warming their hands in the chill of the night. Suddenly there was a man, the one who had been smiling cruelly as Tony was tortured. He was staring with an almost horrified-like expression at the camera.**

"What the fuck?" Clint breathed, obviously very creeped out.

 **The camera switched to face what the creepy man was staring at, revealing the security feed, showing Tony sitting on a table, swinging his leg. His leg was wrapped up in sheets of metal, and Yinsen was standing nearby, watching curiously.**

"Oh." Clint said.

"Surely they can't be stupid enough to ignore that." Steve said, frowning.

Tony grimaced.

 **The view switched back to the man, dark eyes narrowed, burning with hatred. Suddenly the scene switched to the slit being pushed open, and the plump man yelled in Arabic.**

 **Tony looked up from his welding, face bathed in orange light, wearing his goggles.**

"Technically you should be wearing a full face mask." Bruce said. "The sparks could burn you."

The Avengers rolled their eyes.

"Yes, _mum_." Tony mocked. "If you hadn't noticed, I was trapped in a cave with a bunch of Arabic-speaking idiots, sweaty, cold, hungry, thirsty and sleep-deprived. Bruce, right then, I couldn't have cared less."

 **The slit slid shut and the metal door creaked open. The plump man and his soldiers came rushing in, the plump man glaring at Tony. The soldiers pointed their guns at Tony. The mob of soldiers parted, revealing the creepy bald man who had been smiling as Tony was tortured.**

 **Slowly, he approached Tony and Yinsen in an unnervingly hostile manner.**

 **Tony and Yinsen kept their hands on their heads, watching the man carefully. Tony's arc reactor glowed.**

 **"Relax," the creepy man said, giving them a strange grin.**

 **Tony and Yensin put their hands down.**

 **He placed a hand on Tony's Arc Reactor.**

The Avengers tensed.

 **Tony's nostrils flared.**

 **"The bow and arrow once was the pinacle of weapons technology."**

"Once!?" Clint scoffed.

 **"It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great. And four times the size of the Roman empire. But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons, rules these lands. And soon... ...it will be my turn."**

 **As he spoke, he picked up the heap of papers that were the main diagram for the Suit. Tony visibly froze, and glanced at Yensin, like, he's going to find out. Yensin gestured for him to stay calm.**

 **The man circled Tony, sneering. Tony glared at him. He stopped in front of Tony, staring at the billionaire.**

 **Subtitles appeared as he began to speak in Arabic to Yensin.**

 ** _Why did you fail me?_** **He asked.**

 ** _We're working on it. Diligently._** **Yensin replied nervously.**

 **The man turned away from Tony to face Yensin.** ** _I spared your life. Is this how you repay me?_**

 **Tony sensing the hostility, watched carefully.**

 ** _It's very complex. We're working very hard,_** **Yensin shrugged slightly.**

 ** _On your knees._** **The man growled, and instantly two soldiers were forcing Yensin to the ground. A soldier grabbed Yensin's head and twisted, slamming it down on the desk.**

 **Tony swallowed and took a small step towards his friend.**

 ** _You think I'm an idiot?_** **The man was doing something in the fire.**

 **Guns were being held to Yensin's head, his hands pinned behind his back.**

Steve was sure he heard Tony growl.

 ** _Tell me the truth,_** **he turned towards Yensin with pliers, holding a burning hot coal.**

"Oh, God." Bruce whispered.

 ** _Open your mouth,_** **the man ordered, his face twisted into a cruel smile.**

Natasha gasped. "No, no _no_. I don't want to see this. Please don't... oh God, _please_..."

Steve watched with a settling dread. _He was going to burn Yensin's mouth_.

 **Tony took a step forward, eyes wide with fear, concern, determination and hatred.**

 **"What does he want?"**

 ** _Tell me the truth,_** **the man insisted.**

 ** _We are working hard,_** **Yensin repeated.**

 ** _You think I am a fool?_** **The man asked, the smoldering coal inching closer towards Yensin's face.** ** _What is going on? Tell me the truth._**

 ** _We are working on the Jericho,_** **Yensin managed, staring at the coal.**

 ** _Tell me the truth!_** **The man demanded.**

 _ **We are working on the Jericho,**_

 _ **WHAT IS GOING ON?!**_

 ** _THE JERICHO!_** **Yinsen yelled.**

 **"What does he want, a delivery date?" Tony asked, stepping forward with a slightly panicked expression.**

 **Soldiers immediately jumped forward, yelling and pointing their guns at Tony. Tony looked at them nervously and then back at Yinsen, who was still pinned down, and the coal was getting ever closer. The man stared at him.**

 **"I need him," Tony said curtly. "Good assistant."**

 **The man looked back down at Yinsen and dropped the coal, only centimeters from his nose.**

"Oh, thank God," Clint let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

 **"You have till tomorrow," the man snarled. "To assemble my missile." He tossed the tongs away. Tony glowered at him as he left the room, speaking to the soldiers in Urdu.**

 **The scene changed to Tony hammering away at a sheet of metal, the hammer letting out a loud clang every time it made contact.**

Clint whistled. "Jeez, Stark, didn't know you were so buff,"

Thor smirked. "Yes, Man of Iron. You do seem to me as the Blacksmith-type."

Tony scoffed. "I'm a genius, not a metal-man."

Everyone chuckled.

 **The scene changed to Tony levering a smaller sheet of metal into a pot full of burning liquid. Tony walked up to Yinsen, who was writing something on the desk. He dumped the metal on the table with a clang, it was still smoking with heat. Yinsen looked up.**

 **The view switched to the front of the metal, revealing a mask with rectangular eye-holes and a dotted mouth.**

"Bloody hell, that's scary." Bruce muttered.

"What, did you want me to carve a happy smiley face into it? Like a jack-o-lantern? _Really_?" Tony scoffed.

 **The view changed to Tony, wrapping some sort of white duct tape over his hand.**

Tony grimaced.

"What is that for?" Thor inquired.

"I had a lot of blisters. And burns. And cuts. And bruises. You know, the usual.

 **Behind Tony, Yinsen appeared to be maneuvering some sort of large object, something like a chest piece, the movements with a robotic hiss. Yensin helped Tony into a some sort of jacket, then holding out black leather gloves, which the billionaire happily stuffed his hands into. Tony was then pushed into place as Yensin lowered the grey chest plate over Tony's chest, the hole for the Arc Reactor now glowing a soft blue. Tony stared straight ahead, eyes hard with determination. The chest piece clicked into place. Tony winced.**

 **"Okay?" Yensin asked.**

 **"Yes,"**

 **"Can you move?"**

 **The view then switched to Yensin, who was adjusting some wires down in the suit.**

 **"Say it again," Yensin commanded.**

 **"Forty steps forward, then sixteen, left from the door, and four to the right." Tony repeated.**

"How did you know that?" Fury asked.

"I remembered it."

"But you only went there once."

"Cyclops, one, I'm a genius, two, I have a photographic memory. I mean, I review and create blueprints in _my head!_ "

Fury sighed slightly.

 **The scene switched to the creepy man, approaching the security feed. He spoke to the guard watching in Urdu, subtitles appearing.**

 **Where is Stark? He demanded.**

 **He was there a minute ago, the guard replied, clearly intimidated.**

 **Go find him! The man ordered.**

"No, please don't," Bruce said.

 **A couple of soldiers shouted in Arabic and began to run down the cave's dimly lit corridors, leaving the creepy man glowering at the security feed, staring hard. He leant forward, and the view switched to what the security camera could see. Yinsen was standing in front of a board that Tony was standing behind. Yinsen was clearly still assembling the Suit.**

 **The soldiers raced towards the entrance to Tony and Yinsen's cell. One ripped open the little slit in the door.**

 **"Yinsen!" He yelled. "Yinsen!"**

 **"Say something," Tony whispered, staring down at his friend. The Suit appeared to have accelerated his height a lot; he was a whole lot taller.**

 **"He's speaking Hungarian!" Yinsen exclaimed. "I don't-"**

 **"Speak Hungarian," Tony hissed.**

"How are you supposed to speak a language you don't know, Tony!?" Steve scoffed.

 **"Okay..." Yinsen was clearly panicking, and his voice had elevated up an octave.**

 **"What do you know?" Tony asked, keeping his voice low. He was surprisingly calm.**

 **In the background, the soldier was still shouting, louder now, still in Hungarian.**

 **Yinsen yelled something back. The soldier still continued yelling, and the view, now staring at the door, lowered slightly. It showed a bomb, placed right at the crack of the door, where it would open, obviously rigged to explode if someone attempted to enter the room.**

"Dang, Stark." Was all Clint said.

 **The soldiers nodded at each other, and shoved at the door. In an instant, a red fireball-like explosion threw the trio of soldiers backwards, and they lay unconscious as they were embedded in the golden smoke.**

 **The view switched to the creepy man, still watching the security feed intently, and the screen went that usually filmed Tony and Yinsen in their prison, went static. Someone yelled in Arabic down the hall.**

 **It took the man a second to comprehend what had happened, and the moment he did, he began screaming at his soldiers, who began sprinting down the cave, also yelling.**

 **The scene switched back to Tony in the suit.**

 **"How'd that work?" He asked, nodding towards the now fully blown up door.**

 **"Oh, my goodness," Yinsen muttered. "It worked all right,"**

 **"What do I do?" Tony asked.**

 **It was clear that the panic had now hit Tony too, though he seemed to be dealing with it better than his friend.**

 **"Just let me finish this," Yinsen said.**

 **"Finish the power sequence," Tony ordered.**

"Oh my god," Natasha muttered.

 **"Okay," Yinsen rushed over to an extremely old, almost ancient, computer.**

 **"Now!" Tony said.**

 **"Tell me, tell me!" Yinsen spoke quickly.**

 **"Function, 11," Tony said.**

 **Yinsen's fingers were a blur on the keyboard.**

 **"Tell me when you see a progress bar." Tony said. "It should be up right now - talk to me, tell me when you see it."**

 **"I have it!" Yinsen proclaimed.**

 **"Press Ctrl, I."**

 **"Got it!"**

 **"'Enter', I, 'Enter'. Come over here and button me up."**

"Hurry!" Steve cried at the screen.

"You're not gonna make it..." Clint murmured.

 **The green progress bar inched forward.**

"Oh my god, it's too slow!" Natasha exclaimed.

 **The camera perspective changed to a whole lot of soldiers, shouting, surging down the dark corridor, all armed.**

 **Tony glanced towards the door. "It doesn't need to look pretty,"**

 **"They are coming!" Yinsen exclaimed.**

 **"Just get it done." Tony was clearly keeping a calm gone for Yinsen.**

 **"They are** ** _coming_** **!" Yinsen hissed.**

 **More soldiers rushed down the corridor.**

 **The progress bar was over a third the way there. Barely.**

Fury slapped a hand over his forehead. "It's too slow," he groaned.

 **"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before following me out, okay?" Tony asked.**

 **"We need more time," Yinsen muttered, staring at the progress bar, before turning back to Tony. "Okay,"**

 **He faced Tony. They looked into each others eyes, each filled with determination.**

 **"I'm going to go buy you some time." Yinsen declared.**

 **"Stick to the plan!" Tony ordered, voice louder, and gone up an octave with panic. "** ** _STICK TO THE PLAN!_** **" He repeated as Yinsen scooped up a gun and ran down the cave hallway, shooting as he ran.**

 **"Yinsen!" Tony cried. "** ** _YINSEN_** **!" But the brave man kept on running, ignoring Tony's pleads.**

Present Tony had buried his face in his arms. He didn't want to see this. He had tried so hard to forget. _So hard_. So much effort, to try and rid of the pain. But now it was coming back, all at once, hitting him like a train.

It _hurt_.

Bruce placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. He knew that Tony was hurting inside. He knew Tony probably didn't want to remember. He knew Tony didn't want to be exposed like this. He knew it made Tony feel vulnerable and weak. He knew because they were ScienceBros, and he was probably the closest to Iron Man than any of the other Avengers, even the Other Guy liked Tony. He didn't really know why. But he did know that there was nothing he could do to help. No doctor's prescription could fix this kind of pain. And it made Bruce angry. He really wanted to smash Loki for doing this to his buddy.

 **Tony turned his head away from the door, listening to the gunshots. His eyes had a deadly anger look to them. He looked at the computer.**

 **It** ** _still_** **hadn't reached halfway.**

Steve wanted to hit something. Or someone. Preferably Loki.

 **Outside, the machine gun shots were still being fired from Yensin's gun. Yensin ran after the retreating soldiers, but he didn't seem to be hitting anyone. His shots illuminated the dark corridors with a yellow light for an instant with each shot.**

"Why isn't he hitting anyone!?" Clint demanded.

"He didn't want to kill anyone. He wanted to go to heaven to meet his-his-" Tony stopped, and shut his eyes. "He should have stuck to the plan. He should have _listened_." He breathed, so only Steve could hear.

"Now you know how _I_ feel every time _you_ do something stupid on a mission, Stark." Steve gave the billionaire a kind smile.

Tony returned it weakly. "Sorry 'bout that, Cap."

 **Yensin suddenly entered a small clearing, and stopped abruptly. About a dozen soldiers had their guns loaded and aimed at Yensin, fingers tight on the trigger.**

"Oh my god," Natasha clapped a hand over her mouth.

Tony felt sick.

 **Suddenly, back at the cell where Tony, stuck in the Suit, was. The camera focused on the laptop. The progress bar reached 100%, and gave a small beep. The light faded, and the sound of lightbulbs exploding filled the room. Soldiers running down the hall stopped as all the lights faded, leaving an almost pitch-black cave.**

"I used all the power in the entire cave, just to power my suit," Tony replied weakly, after receiving questioning glances.

 **Three soldiers approached Tony's (now blown up) door. They slowed, staring at their fallen comrades, who had died during the earlier explosion. More cautiously now, they crouched and stared into the cell/workshop, muttering in Urdu.**

 **One shoved his two friends in front of him, receiving glares from the two.**

 **Their eyes swept over the room, past the laptop, past the desk, but they really couldn't see anything, not in such darkness.**

"C'mon, please tell me it worked..." Clint pleaded to no knew in particular.

 **In the shadows, an iron fist clenched.**

" _YESSSSS_!" Clint whooped, high-fiving Thor, who was grinning.

"Congratulations, Man of Iron." He said.

 **Suddenly a light shone on one of the soldiers faces. He was wearing a green beanie, and he turned, confused. His eyes widened with horror. The arc reactor hole had suddenly glowed a bright white, not the regular blue. The suit was ready. In an instant, the green beanie soldier was dead, shot by the Mark I.**

 **The remaining soldiers shot back immediately, shots ricocheting off the metal of the Suit. They shot for at least twenty seconds, then stopped. There was silence. One soldier muttered something to another. They stared at each other, eyes wide with terror. Suddenly the light from the arc reactor appeared above them, and Iron Man shoved them backwards. Instantly, more shots were shot, but they just bounced off of Iron Man. He elbowed a huge, metal elbow at the last remaining soldier, and the man sprawled on the floor. The camera gave a full view of the Mark I, it's shiny silver iron glinting in the remaining light.**

"That's so cool," Clint breathed, mesmerized.

Tony smirked.

"The Mark I, everyone!" He announced.

 **He began walking forward, rather dramatically, to dramatic music. Up ahead, familiar yellow flashes, the same as Yinsen's gun, flared.**

 **As Iron Man stomped to the clearing, more firing at him, but the guns had absolutely no effect, they just bounced off like bouncy balls. The only sign that the soldiers had actually hit him was the occasional spark. Shouts rung out in the cave as Iron Man continued to advance with a steady pace. One brave soldier charged, yelling, but Iron Man just swept him away with a single swing of an arm, sending him smashing into the stone wall. Iron Man punched another.**

 **As he advanced, many men were retreating, screaming with terror, presumably trying to warn the others. A group of soldiers slammed a metal door shut, but trapped another man in with Iron Man. The poor man was obviously terrified, throwing his body desperately against the door, slamming his fist, screaming, begging for his friends to let him in as Iron Man approached. The men who had shut the door listened with increasing horror to their friends screams, aiming their guns right at the door. The trapped man had begun to scream in English;**

 **"HELP ME! HELP ME,** ** _HELP_** **-" the screams came to an abrupt stop with a loud clang shook the door. The men took a step back, trembling. Another loud clang shook the cave, sending gritty bits of rock falling from the ceiling. The men took another step back. Another clang, louder now. One of the men whimpered. He gave in to his fear and shouted, turning away to run just as the door was flung open, Iron Man stepping out with all his glory. One man ran past Iron Man, through a narrow gap. Iron Man attempted to punch him, but was too late, and his fist got embedded in rock, stuck.**

"Too clunky," Tony murmured, watching the fight unfold before him. His genius eyes examined the suit, finding every weakness, every flaw, every mistake in the suit. They didn't miss a single detail - apart from one: it was good.

"Yeah, but it did the job," Steve reminded his friend,

Thor nodded. "Indeed, Captain of America. It is very impressive for a cave-creation."

Tony smiled slightly.

 **Iron Man repeatedly pulled his arm with no success. One brave soul came right up and pointed his gun right at the mask. But the bullet ricocheted, bouncing right into the shooter's own forehead.**

"Holy shit," Steve whispered.

Thor raised his eyebrows. "The Captain of America swears! Interesting..."

 **Finally, Iron Man managed to pull out his arm, and continued his march. The creepy man stalked through the corridors, examining dead bodies as though they were artifacts, not corpses. He stood right at the doorway, just before the entrance, where light filtered through the opening. The view changed, at you could see Yinsen, lying on a pile of sandbags. His chest was moving up and down, breathing in ragged, gasping breaths.**

"Oh no..." Natasha whimpered. "Yinsen..."

Tony lowered his head.

 **Iron Man walked into the room.**

 **He took one look at his fallen friend. "Yinsen!"**

 **"Watch out!" Yinsen managed. He then groaned with pain.**

 **The creepy man fired a miniature missile at Iron Man, which he swiftly dodged. Instead the missile continued into the wall and blew up, leaving only wreckage behind.**

 **Iron Man held out his right arm, and his own missile was fired, blowing as the creepy man dodged, leaving a fire and the creepy man unconscious.**

 **Immediately, Iron Man rushed to Yinsen, throwing a sandbag off of him. He lifted his mask, becoming Tony once again.**

 **"Stark..." Yinsen groaned.**

 **"C'mon. We gotta go. Move with me. C'mon, we gotta plan, we need to stick to it."**

 **Yinsen's shoulder was bleeding. He had obviously been shot there. "This was always the plan, Stark."**

"What?" Cried Natasha, who was near tears.

Tony just stared at the screen, clearly reliving the moment. Steve placed a hand on his shoulder. Tony didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care.

 **"Come on, your going to see your family again," Tony said, pleadingly.**

 **"My family's dead," Yinsen whispered, shaking his head. "I'm going to see them now, Stark."**

Natasha choked back a sob. "No!" Clint wrapped an arm around her.

 **"It's okay. It's okay." Yinsen reassured Tony, his voice barely a whisper. "I want this."**

 **Tony stared at the dying man, eyes full of pain and gratitude. His face was covered with grime and sweat, and his lips were tight. He looked like he himself wanted to cry. Tony managed to swallow, and puffed out a breath.**

 **"Thank you for saving me,"**

 **"Don't waste it," Yinsen whispered, now gasping for breath. "Don't waste your life,"**

 **He breathed one last, ragged breath and then stilled, eyes closed. He looked peaceful, if it wasn't for the wound or blood, anyone could've mistaken it for a pleasant dream.**

 **Then he died.**

Please follow, favourite, and especially, REVIEW! It really boosts my confidence, and the chapters definitely get done quicker with that kind of motivation. Have a nice day! (Or night, if you're like me and reads FanFiction at 1:00 am. Am I the only one?)


	5. Chapter 5

Hi there. Sorry that this took so long, but you have to understand that this is actually really difficult to write. I can't just write it when I feel like it, I have to have WiFi and I have to actually play the movie and keep pausing the whole time, and I have to keep checking the script of the movie, just to make sure I heard right. Then I have to edit and upload, and it just takes a very long time, and I apologise about that. 

Secondly, I would like to point out that I'm not a doctor. I'm just a kid who hasn't even finished middle school who enjoys writing. I'm not an expert on panic attack treatment or anything like that.

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for all the support I'm getting. It's honestly insane, I never expected this to be so popular.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Avengers or Iron Man or anything.

 ** _Then he died._**

Tony wanted to hurt someone. Really badly. He wanted to cry and scream and punch Loki in his sorry face. He didn't want to remember. He wanted to hide away from those memories, but he couldn't, and now he was staring at Yinsen's limp body, dead. _Dead_. The emotions he felt were overwhelming. He'd never been a man to express much feeling and now - this. He couldn't even describe the pain he felt. The mental pain. Because now, everything he did wrong in his entire, sorry life had come back to slap him in the face - to make him remember.

Tony stood up abruptly, knocking his office chair backwards. His fists were clenched and trembling slightly. He looked murderous.

But when he spoke, it was like there was a different man coming from his lips. "He should have stuck to the plan. It could've been okay. He could be here right now, reading - _he could be alive_."

Steve gently pulled Tony to his seat. "He wanted it."

"He saved my life. But I couldn't save his."

"No, Stark." This time it was Fury who spoke up. "He didn't want to be saved. You can't save a man who doesn't want to be saved. It just doesn't work."

Everyone blinked. Fury, showing emotion? Woah. Tony let out a small breath and sighed. He gave a small smile to Steve, showing the Captain he was okay.

"Ummmm," Clint said awkwardly. "Should we continue?"

Everyone gave a slight nod.

 **Tony took one last look at his old friend, eyes burning like a wildfire, and straightened up. Soldiers were camped outside the cave entrance, each watching the mouth intently, rifles tight in their palms. Slowly a single white light appeared in the blackness, bobbing above the ground. Eyes widening, the men's fingers tightened on the triggers.**

 **Iron Man emerged from the darkness.**

 **It was a spectacular sight. The metal glinted in the sunlight, and the Suit just looked darn grand. Instantly, yells pierced the speakers, and gunshots bellowed. Every single remaining soldier was putting all their remaining ammo into this, and yet the bullets just ricocheted harmlessly. Iron Man walked down the stone ramp, steps echoing with a loud stomp. He just stopped and stared at the soldiers. Seemingly realizing that their shooting really wasn't doing anything, the soldiers also stopped, watching Iron Man with terror.**

 **"My turn," Iron Man growled.**

Clint whistled. "Damn, you're freakin' scary."

Tony smirked weakly.

 **Iron Man held out his two arms, and all of a sudden, the soldiers were engulfed with a wave of flames. They screamed, attempting to run, but the fire swallowed them mercilessly.**

 **Steve opened his mouth, but Tony interrupted him.**

 **"I know, I know. I shouldn't have killed them. I was angry."**

 **The flames were everywhere, a tornado of orange. It gulped down stalls with weapons, huts and people. Nothing stood in its way.**

 **"The Man of Iron has impressive fire power," Thor commented.**

 **Men stumbled into the blazing stalls screaming, they themselves also on fire. Iron Man just advanced, aiming his fire everywhere. All the Stark Industries that were seen earlier were also caught in the flames. Surviving men continued the fight, though they probably knew it was hopeless. A few took shelter behind boulders further up the hill, aiming from up above. Machine guns began to rattle, spraying Iron Man with bullets. Iron Man fell to his knees.**

"No, no, c'mon," Bruce muttered.

 **Surrounded by fire, Iron Man raised his left arm and sprayed a few soldier's with remaining flames, though they had weakened. The landscape was pretty much hell. Everything had gone up in flames, stalls, bombs, explosives. Corpses. Even some live ammo, which had caused another explosion, leading to even more flames. It was like a never ending cycle.**

 **The view switched back to a close up of Iron Man. He flipped some sort of switch in the right forearms' armor, and a small humming began to buzz. Then Iron Man blasted out of the hellish place, just as more explosions erupted, tossing men into the air.**

"That thing can fly!?" Steve exclaimed.

Tony grimaced. "Uhhhhhhhh..."

 **There was an aerial shot, and the entire camp was one big ball of burning fire.**

Clint whistled.

 **There was a small grey object in the sky, leaving a trail of vapor, obviously Iron Man. But suddenly the blasters stuttered and cut off. Iron Man tumbled in the air, and slammed face first into a sand dune.**

"Ow," Thor muttered.

 **A small eruption of sand quickly cleared, leaving shards of metal and pieces of the Mark I scattered among the golden sand. In the middle of the wreckage lay Iron Man, still wearing the mask. He groaned slightly and shifted. He lifted his arm, which was tangled in wires and loose metal. He flung it all off and then did the same with the others arm, and tore off his mask, becoming Tony Stark once again. He looked round slightly and sighed.**

 **"Not bad."**

Everyone snickered.

"Well, it _wasn't_ bad for a piece of crap made out of scraps in a goddamn _cave_ ," Tony reminded them.

"We never said it wasn't," Bruce assured the genius.

 **The scene changed to Tony stumbling down a sand dune, shimmering in the boiling sun. Tony was holding his jacket over his head, arms bear. His trousers were ripped, and he was walking as though he was drunk.**

 **Tony was breathing heavily as he reached the top of another sand dune, jacket pressed against his head.**

"How long were you there?" Fury asked.

Tony shrugged. "I dunno. A day or two. Any longer and I would've collapsed with exhaustion and/or dehydration."

 **Suddenly a loud engine interrupted the silence of the speakers, and a helicopter zipped over the dune. Another quickly followed. Tony turned to wave at it, and yelled, ' _YEESSSSS_!' He held up a single arm and laughed, before shouting again. He fell to his knees just as one of the choppers landed. Five soldiers jumped out and sprinted towards him.**

 **One of them was Rhodes. "How was the fun-vee?" He asked, lifting his goggles.**

 **He crouched down to Tony's level, and placed a firm hand on his friends shoulder. Tony smirked slightly. "Next time you ride with me, okay?" Rhodey's voice cracked slightly, and he pulled Tony into a quick hug. They sat their for a moment, just hugging.**

The Avengers and Fury watched this with smiles on their faces, even Fury.

"I don't know how that man can deal with you though, Stark." The director said, trying to smother his smile.

 **The scene changed to a large military plane, pulling down onto a runway, landing.**

 **The view switched to the same plane parked in a concrete lot, Pepper Potts standing, waiting for her boss. Happy was there too, accompanied by a familiar black limousine.**

 **The ramp/door was lowered from the plane, revealing Rhodey and Tony. Pepper bit her lip. Tony looked pretty decent, beard trimmed, hair combed, his right arm was neatly in a sling.**

 **"Watch it coming up here," Rhodey said to Tony, gesturing to a step in the ramp.**

 **A couple of paramedics appeared with a stretcher.**

 **"Are you kidding me with this?" Tony scoffed. "Get rid of them."**

"Nice to know you're back to your arrogant self," Natasha commented.

Everyone chuckled.

 **Pepper broke out into a smile as Tony approached.**

 **"Hmmm," he said.**

 **There was a close up of Tony's face. There was pretty much no evidence that Tony had ever been to Afghanistan. Only two obvious cuts remained on his face, and then there was a sling and a slight limp. But then again, he was probably wearing makeup.**

 **"Your eyes are red," Tony speculated. "Few tears for your long lost boss?"**

 **"Tears of joy," Pepper smiled. "I hate job-hunting."**

The Avengers laughed.

 **"Yeah, vacations over," Tony said, brushing past her.**

 **The scene changed to inside the limousine, Pepper and Tony in the back, Happy up front, driving.**

 **"Where to, sir? He asked.**

 **"Take us to the hospital please, Happy-" Pepper began.**

 **"No." Tony interrupted.**

 **"No?" Pepper turned to look at Tony.**

"And so the hatred for hospitals begins," Bruce chuckled.

 **"Tony, you have to go to the hospital-"**

 **Tony looked at her."I don't _have_ to do anything," Tony spoke over Pepper who had not stopped when interrupted. "I was in captivity for three months-"**

"That long?" Steve raised his eyebrows.

Tony laughed. "Yeah, the movie made it seem like a week or two. I wish it was."

 **"-there are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger. And the other-"**

 **"That's not going to happen." Pepper sighed, turning away.**

 **"It's not what you think," Tony said honestly. "I want you to call for a press conference. Now."**

 **"Call for a press conference!?" Pepper exclaimed.**

 **"Yeah,"**

 **"What on earth for!?"**

 **"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first," Tony ordered.**

"You are a very bossy mortal, Man of Iron," Thor speculated.

Clint snorted. "Yeah, didn't you notice that already?"

 **And so the limousine pulled away.**

 **The scene switched to a modern building with a fighter jet in front, grey with the code: YF-22 imprinted on it. The building was lined with American flags. As the car pulled up, a round of applause sounded.**

 **"Look at this!" A Obadiah Stane, in a rather fancy suit, exclaimed, rushing up to the car, with his arms opened wide. "Look at this! Huh?"**

 **Obadiah opened the car door and Tony clambered out.**

 **"Tony!" He said as he embraced the younger man. The crowd clapped even louder. "I thought you'd meet me at the hospital!"**

 **"Yeah, well," Tony grumbled, turning to Happy.**

 **"Look at you!" Obadiah brushed Tony's suit down slightly. Tony turned to proceed up to the entrance of the building, people clapping on either side of the doors, all in suits. Pepper stood just to the side. Tony pulled out a burger wrapped in white paper.**

 **"Oh, a burger, you had to have a burger," Obadiah said. "Did you get me one of those?" The man tried to take the burger.**

"Are you kidding me!?" Steve exclaimed. "You just came back from Afghanistan, you get your first real food in months and he tries to take it?!"

"Seriously," Clint shook his head. "That's just plain _wrong_."

Tony shrugged. "Yeah well. I was wrong about Obie - um, Obadiah."

Steve frowned. What had Stane done?

 **"Uh, there's only one left." Tony excused. "I need it."**

 **The scene switched to inside the building, Tony and Obadiah walking in to another huge round of applause, with Ms. Potts walking just behind.**

 **"Hey!" Obadiah yelled. "Look who's here! Yeah!"**

 **The view switched back to Pepper Potts, who smiled as Tony was surrounded by questioning reporters and cameras.**

 **"Ms. Potts," a voice said.**

"Phil!" Everyone cheered. Well, except Fury, Tony and Thor.

"Agent!" Tony yelled.

"SON OF COAL!" Thor bellowed.

 **"Yes..." She replied, rather questioningly.**

 **"May I speak with you?"**

 **"I-I... I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now," Pepper said, turning towards the podium.**

 **"I'm not a reporter," Phil said. "I'm Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."**

Tony whistled. "Wow."

"That's quite a lot of... words." Dr. Banner speculated.

Fury shrugged. "Why d'you think we call it SHIELD?"

"Because you don't want people's tongues to fall out," Tony muttered under his breath, and Fury glared at him.

 **"That's quite a mouthful." Pepper said, looking at a business card Phil handed her.**

 **"I know, we've been working on it."**

 **"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA-"**

Natasha licked her lips. "Wow. They must be really into you, Stark."

Tony winked at her. "A lot of people are."

Natasha slapped him.

 **"-we are a separate division," Phil interrupted. "With a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."**

 **"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper offered, smiling.**

 **"Thank you," Phil said, and they both turned to watch the press conference.**

 **Obadiah was at the stand. "Aaahhhhhh," he said into the mike.**

 **The camera fell down to the bottom of the stand, where Tony was sitting.**

 **"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down? Why don't you just sit down," Tony said, gesturing to the floor and pulling out his burger.**

Clint snickered. "As if."

 **"That way you can see me and I can... a little less formal,"**

 **The room sat down.**

"Holy shit." Clint gaped at the screen. "You made the press conference sit down. You made the... _what_?"

Tony chuckled.

"That's pretty impressive," Nick admitted, but then quickly added; "And childish and immature. Very Stark." But he was smiling.

 **Tony chowed down on his cheeseburger. The room stared at him. Obadiah sat down beside Tony.**

 **"What's up with the lovin'?" Rhodey breathed as he crouched down to the floor, next to Pepper, who was already sitting.**

 **"Don't look at me, I don't know what he's up to," Pepper whispered.**

"No one does," Natasha muttered.

 **Back on the floor of the stage, where Tony was leaning against the stand, Obadiah beside him.**

 **"Good to see you," Tony whispered to him.**

 **"Good to see you too," Obadiah said back, and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and muttered something that no one except Tony could hear.**

 **"I never got to say bye to dad," he said in reply. Then louder, directed to the press conference. "I never got to say goodbye to my** **father."**

Steve cringed inwardly at the mention of Howard.

 **The press stared at him, and Tony chewed for a moment.**

 **"There's questions I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did... if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts."**

 **Pepper narrowed her eyes, obviously wondering what this was leading to.**

 **"Or maybe he was every inch of a man we all remember from the newsreels."**

 **Rhodey nodded.**

 **"I saw young Americans killed, by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them." Obadiah frowned. "And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."**

 **The room was silent for a moment, but was broken when five or six reporters raised their hands, chorusing, 'Mr. Stark-"**

 **"Yes," Tony gestured to a young man in a suit, holding a notebook.**

" **What happened over there?"**

 **Tony looked at him for a moment, before standing. "I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world then, just making things to blow up." Tony was now standing behind the stand, looking down at the reporters like a teacher would do schoolchildren. "And that is why-"**

"Wait for it..." Natasha and Fury grinned. They both knew what was about to happen.

 **"-effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries-"**

Clint, Bruce, Thor and Steve raised their eyebrows.

 **In an instant, every reporter was in their feet, shouting and crying out questions. Pepper's jaw dropped open. Obadiah quickly grabbed Tony by the shoulder, but the billionaire continued, though he was drowned out by the crowd.**

 **"-until such a time, as I can decide what the future of this company will be, what direction it should take, the one I'm comfortable with, and is consistent with the highest good of this country and the world."**

 **The whole time, Stane was attempting to push Tony away from the microphone, yelling, 'okay, okay!' and raising a palm for the flashes of cameras and shouting of reporters to stop.**

 **"Tony, Tony!" He hissed, and pushed Tony down the stairs.**

 **Rhodey looked away, biting his lip. He seemed disappointed.**

 **Obadiah was back in the podium, trying to gain control again. "What we should take away from this is that... Tony's back! And, ah, he's healthier than ever,"**

Bruce snorted. "Yeah, not like he's got a hunk of metal sticking out of his chest."

"I do not like this mortal," Thor declared.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, he's a lil' bit strange."

Tony looked away.

 **The scene faded out to an overhead shot if a factory, presumably Stark Industries. Happy, with his familiar black limousine stood outside the building. Stane pulled up with a Segway beside him.**

The Avengers snickered.

"He looks stupid on a Segway," Clint giggled.

"Absolutely," Tony agreed, laughing.

"Oh, do be quiet!" Natasha ordered, but she was attempting (and failing) to suppress her own giggles.

 **"Where is he?" Obadiah demanded.**

 **"He's just inside," Happy said, gesturing to the building's entrance as he grabbed the Segway off Stane.**

 **Obadiah pulled out an ID card and swiped, walking into the building. Tony was standing behind some railing in front of a huge, glowing, round machine with big tubes that glowed blue.**

 **Obadiah walked in, pipe smoking in his mouth, hands on hips, and sighed. Tony just looked at him.**

 **"Well that... ah... that went well." Stane said.**

"Yes, brilliantly," Clint agreed, and Natasha hit him.

 **Tony looked away. "Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?"**

 **"Your head?" Stane asked, walking up to him. "What about my head?"**

 **The camera zoomed out, revealing what the blue glowing machine was.**

"The Arc Reactor!" Bruce gasped.

Tony shrugged. "I said I had one at home powering my factory, didn't I?"

"But... It's huge..."

Everyone stared at the hunk of glowing blue in Tony's chest. Self-consciously, Tony placed a protective hand over it.

 **"What do you think the over-under on a stock drop is gonna be?" Stane asked.**

 **"Uhh, optimistically? Forty points?"**

 **"At minimum."**

 **"Yep." Tony shifted his weight uncomfortably.**

 **"Tony." Obadiah began. "We're a weapons manufacturer."**

 **"Obie, I just..." Tony turned to face the grey-haired man. "I don't want the body count to be up..."**

 **"That's what we do," Obadiah insisted. "We're Iron Mongers, we make weapons-"**

 **"My name is on the facade of the building-" Tony cut in.**

 **"And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos."**

 **Tony shook his head. "Not from what I saw. We're not doing a good enough job, we can do better, we can do something else-"**

 **"Oh like what? You want us to make baby bottles?"**

"What is up with the baby bottles?" Clint muttered.

 **They were silent for a moment.**

 **"I think we should take another look into Arc Reactor technology," Tony said.**

 **"Oh, come on." Stane shook his head. "The Arc Reactor was a publicity stunt!" He waved his arm at the monstrous machine, buzzing overhead. He had raised his voice. "Tony, come on, we built that to shut the hippies up!"**

 **"It works," Tony said simply.**

" **Yeah, as a science project. The Arc was never cost-effective, we knew that before we built it!" He circled Tony. "Arc Reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?"**

 **"Maybe," Tony refused to face Stane, gazing up at the blue machine.**

 **"Huh, am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that for what... thirty years?"**

 **"That's what they say." Tony turned to face the taller man. There was a silence. "Could you have a lousier pokerface?"**

 **"** Actually, yes." Tony announced. "Capsicle's is pretty awful."

Steve glared.

" **Just tell me, who told you?" Tony asked.**

 **"Never mind who told me, show me." Obadiah demanded, gesturing to the genius's chest.**

 **"Rhodey or Pepper? It's gotta be Rhodey or Pepper."**

 **"I wanna see it." Obadiah drawled, rather rudely.**

 **"Okay, Rhodey." Tony decided, unzipping his jacket.**

 **Obadiah looked round, sure to see no one was looking. Tony followed his gaze and opened up his shirt, revealing the white-blueish glow from his chest. Obadiah looked at it for a moment, then** back up at Tony's face.

" **Okay, alright." He whispered, doing up Tony's shirt. He glanced around again.**

 **"It works," Tony said.**

 **Obadiah sighed. "Listen here, Tony." He slung his arm around Tony's shoulders. "We're a team."**

 **Tony snorted.**

 **"Do you understand? There's nothing that we can't do, if we stick together, like your father and I, huh?"**

 **Tony seemed to get a little more agitated at the mention of his dad.**

 **"Sorry I didn't give you a heads up," Tony said. "Okay, but if I had-"**

 **"Tony, no more if this heads up-fire-aim business, d'you understand me?"**

 **"That's dad's line," Tony said coldly, looking at Obadiah.**

Steve frowned. Tony really seemed to react badly to any mention of his father, and Steve really wanted to know why. He knew Howard was a good man, but maybe something had happened when he'd gotten frozen up. Maybe something changed. But he knew for one thing that Tony himself wouldn't do it. But maybe movie-Tony would. If not, he would have to ask Natasha, she seemed to know a rather unusual amount about Tony.

 **Obadiah smiled slightly and stopped rubbing Tony's shoulder, taking a step back.**

 **"You gotta let me handle this. We're gonna have to play a whole different kinds ball now. We're gonna have to take a lot of heat, I want you to promise me to lay low."**

The Avengers snorted.

"Lay low? Yeah, I think Stark is physically incapable of doing so," Nick chuckled.

"Actually," Tony said. "I think I did a pretty good job. For me, at least."

"Yeah, and me is constantly getting drunk at parties and bringing a new girl home every night. Totally laying low." Clint said.

 **The scene changed to a TV program, a bald man in a crisp white shirt and tie sneering rather unpleasantly into the camera.**

"Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh _nooooooooooooooooo_..." Clint moaned.

Natasha groaned. Fury sighed. Bruce covered his eyes. Tony banged his head on the table. Steve and Thor were confused.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

"That..." Clint spat out the word like it was venom, gesturing to the screen. "Is the _worst_ fucking TV programme in the whole of America. Probably the whole _world_."

 **"Stark Industries. I've got one recommendation! Ready, ready!?" He sounded like an over excited toddler. "Sell sell sell! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells!?"**

Steve frowned.

 **Pepper sat in the living room, in front of the TV, sighing.**

"Why is she watching that shit!?" Clint exclaimed.

 **"Let me show you the new, Stark Industries business plan!" The man continued, yelling. He grabbed a baseball bat and swung into a mug, shattering it. Pepper winced. "Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't make weapons!"**

 **Sound effects of machine guns shot into the air.**

 **"Pepper!" Tony's voice cut through the sound, and Pepper jumped, switching on her phone. "How big are your hands?" He asked.**

"What?" Steve frowned.

Tony wrinkled his nose. "Oh. This thing. I was kinda hoping they would skip this."

The others shared slightly worried glances.

 **"What!?" She exclaimed.**

 **"How big are your hands?" Tony repeated through the phone.**

 **"I-I don't understand...why-"**

 **"Just get down here, I need you."**

"Awwwww," Natasha cooed mockingly.

Tony glared at her.

 **Pepper stood up and the scene changed to down in the lab door entrance, where she absently tapped a key code into a holographic keypad. The door slid open.**

 **"Hey," Tony was lying on some sort of dentist chair thing, shirtless. He was holding one Arc Reactor and another appeared to be in his chest. "Let's see 'em. Show me your hands." Tony held up one of his.**

 **Pepper waggled her own fingers in the air, walking towards Tony slightly uneasily.**

 **"Oh, wow, very small. Very petite indeed." He shifted a glowing Arc Reactor in his hand. "I just need your help for a sec."**

 **"Oh my God, is that the thing keeping you alive?" Pepper stared at it with a sort of frightened curiosity.**

 **"It was, now it is an antique." Beside Tony, a heart-rate monitor beeped steadily. "This," he held up the brighter, bluer Arc Reactor in his hand," Is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I was swapping it for an upgraded unit and I just ran into a little... speed bump."**

"Oh, God." Bruce ran his hand through his hair.

 **"Speed bump, whadaya mean?" Pepper asked uneasily. "What's happening?"**

 **"Its nothing, just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device and is contacting a socket wall and is causing a little bit of a short circuit."**

Bruce winced. "For how long?"

Tony shrugged. "Ever since I put it in, I guess."

Bruce's eyes widened. "But that must've hurt like _hell_."

Tony shrugged again. "Yeah, well. You get used to it. I mean it hurts right now-"

Tony froze. He hadn't meant to say the last part.

Steve leant forward. "It hurts now? Can we help? I can-"

"No, no, Capsicle, you don't understand. It's normal. It always hurts. Some days worse than others, some better."

"How much does it hurt?" Steve continued interrogating the genius.

"Oh I don't know!" Tony threw his hands up in the air. "It's just a dull ache, not painful."

Tony grimaced. That was a lie, the recent panic attack had caused stress in the lungs and now the Arc Reactor wasn't exactly painful, it was definitely an eight on the scale.

Yup, JARVIS had created a sort of scale to have Tony rate the pain on. His usual was a six, now he was on an eight, which was rather painful but bearable and ten was the highest. There were one or two days a year where Tony was in so much pain he could barely move. JARVIS and Tony called those days the Fifteen Days, because even though the scale only went to ten, Tony was in such agony he rated it a fifteen.

"Okay..." Steve leant back, not quite believing Tony and obviously irritated that Tony hadn't told him that it hurt.

But then again, there wasn't much Steve could do. He sucked at technology and wasn't exactly a doctor. So he stayed quiet.

 **As he spoke, Tony carefully pulled out the Arc Reactor from his chest, grimacing. There was now a gaping hole in his chest. He handed it to Pepper, who plucked it from his fingers cautiously.**

 **"Wha-what do you want me to do?" Pepper asked, holding it gingerly.**

 **"Just put it on that table over there, that's irrelevant."**

 **Pepper did so.**

 **"Oh, my God..." She muttered.**

 **"I just want you to reach in, and you're gonna gently lift the wire out." Tony exhaled deeply.**

"Wait..." Clint's eyes widened. "Are you _dying_ right now?"

"Dying? No. But the magnet is not being powered right now, so the shrapnel is... you know... moving..."

 **"Is it safe?" Pepper was clearly terrified of the idea of reaching into her boss' chest.**

 **"Um, yeah, it should be fine."**

"It's not going to be fine," Bruce groaned.

 **"It's like Operation, you just don't let it touch the socket wall."**

 **"What's Operation? Whadaya mean, Operation?" Pepper was getting a little agitated.**

 **"It's just a game, never mind. Just gently lift the wire."**

 **"Okay."**

 **"Okay? Great."**

 **Pepper began to reach down into the chest cavity, but then pulled back quickly.**

 **"You know, I don't think I'm qualified to do this," she began.**

 **"No, no." Tony shook his head. "You're fine. You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met."**

Tony smiled.

Fury laughed. "Yeah, and patient, to deal with a man like Stark." He offered Tony a smile. "You are one very lucky man, Tony."

Tony smirked. "I know."

 **"You're gonna do great." He assured her. Pepper hesitated. "Is it really too much to ask, because I** ** _really_** **need your help here."**

 **"Okay, okay." Pepper reached forward and let out a shaky breath.**

 **Her hand dived in. An ugly squelching noise began.**

The Avengers stared at each other. What the _bloody hell_ was that noise?

 **"Oh, oh, there's** ** _pus_** **!" She whined, but her hand still continued.**

"Pus!?" Bruce gasped.

"No, no, it's-"

 **"-It's not pus. It's a plasmic discharge, it's from the device, not from my body."**

"Yeah." Tony agreed. "What he said."

"But that's even worse!" Bruce looked utterly horrified.

 **"It smells," she breathed, cringing. Her face was wrinkled with disgust, and Tony was breathing heavily, probably in pain.**

 **"Yeah it does." Tony agreed. "The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?"**

 **"I-I got it," Pepper said. She looked like she wanted to cry.**

 **"You got it? Now don't let it touch the** ** _AHHH_** **-"**

 **A loud buzzing noise sounded, an electric shock, and Tony's entire body convulsed with pain. Pepper jumped and took a deep breath.**

 **"Sides, that's what I was trying to tell you before..." Tony grimaced and grunted.**

 **"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Pepper breathed, hastily apologizing.**

 **Her hand appeared back from the hole, tugging a copper wire, just as Tony said.**

 **"Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull out the magnet at the end of it." Tony said.**

 **All of a sudden there was a horrible wrenching noise, and a small round, donut object appeared at the end of the wire. The beeping heart monitor went crazy.**

"Oh my God," Bruce whispered with horror.

The rest watched with wide eyes, jaws hanging open. It was utterly disgusting.

 **"That was it," Tony groaned. "That you just pulled out."**

 **"Oh God."**

 **"I was not expecting that," Tony muttered under his breath, closing his eyes for a moment.**

 **"What do I do?" Pepper was trembling, and she began to lower the magnet back in.**

 **"** ** _DON'T_** **put it back in!" Tony exclaimed as his eyes shot open again.**

 **"What's wrong!?" Pepper gasped as she threw the magnet to the side, as Tony hissed with pain.**

 **"Nothing, I'm just going into cardiac arrest as you yanked out..." He trailed off, eyes closing.**

" _WHAT!?_ " Bruce practically screamed.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Clint asked.

"He's gonna have a heart attack!" Bruce wailed.

Everyone stared at Tony with pure horror.

 **"What!?" Pepper gasped. "I thought you said this was** ** _safe_** **?!"**

 **"We gotta hurry... take this." He moaned with pain slightly, handing Pepper the glowing blue Arc Reactor.**

 **"Okay," Pepper said, panicking.**

 **"Take this, you gotta switch, real quick."**

Steve was awfully aware of the heart monitor screaming with beeps, not quite dead, but obviously dying.

 **"Okay," She grabbed the Arc Reactor and reached towards the cavity, before grabbing Tony's shoulder. "Tony,"**

 **"What?" He slurred his words slightly and his breathing was labored.**

 **"It's gonna be okay, I am going to make this okay."**

"JUST SHOVE IT IN THE HOLE!" Clint screeched.

Tony stared at him and cleared his throat. "One, it doesn't work like that, two, that sounds _really_ wrong..."

The archer blushed.

 **"Okay, you gotta touch that to the baseplate," Tony explained, though it was barely a whisper. "And make sure you-"**

 **Pepper gasped and there was a strange clicking noise and Tony cried out in pain.**

 **"AAAARGGHOWWWWWWWW..." He took a deep breath as Pepper secured the Arc Reactor. "Was that so hard?" He grinned weakly. "That was fun right? Nice..."**

 **"Are you okay?" Pepper panted, hands covered in some strange slime.**

 **"Yeah, I feel great. Are you okay?"**

 **Pepper just glared at him, and Tony broke into laughter.**

 **"Don't ever," she growled, but a smile was creeping onto her face. "Ever, ever, ask me to do anything like that ever again."**

 **"I don't have anybody but you," Tony smiled.**

 **They looked at each other for a moment, and Tony smirked.**

 **"Okay..." Tony sat up and pulled all the wires from his chest. He stood up as Pepper shook the slime from her hands.**

"Ewwwwww." Natasha grimaced.

"Yeah, you can say that again," Tony agreed.

 **"What do you want me to with this?" Pepper held up the old, still glowing, Arc Reactor.**

 **"That? Destroy it."**

"What?" Steve gasped.

 **"Incinerate it."**

 **"You don't wanna keep it?"**

 **"Pepper, I've been called many things, but nostalgic is not one of them."**

"True." Bruce said.

 **Pepper gave a small nod. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"**

 **Tony smiled. "That will be all, Ms. Potts."**

 **He turned away.**

 **"Hey, Butterfingers, c'mere. What's all this... stuff, on my desk. That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad, right there, in the garbage."**

Steve frowned. _What had happened?_

 **Pepper walked away, leaving Tony behind, fondling the glowing Arc Reactor with a broad smile.**

Okay, did you like it? If you did, let me know in the reviews! (I'm treating this YouTube style, like leave some comments below and give me a big, thumbs up! Lol) Oh, and sorry if Natasha seems a bit OOC. I'm not very good with her.

Follow, favourite and REVIEW!

(I'm gonna call it FF&R) 

See you soon, AppleSun out.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I suck at updating quickly, I'm sorry. And it's a really short chapter too, around 1,800 words, sorry about that too! ITS A SHORT CHAPPIE, OKAY I'M SORRY DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT!?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or the Iron Man movies, I am just a kid with an iPad that is still in middle school. Not a famous director person. Sorry 'bout that.

ENJOY!

 **The scene switched to an army fighter jet rolling along a Tarmac, right outside another building.**

 **"The future of air combat," Rhodey's voice rung across the said building, which looked like some sort of warehouse storing multiple jets. Rhodey was leading a group of soldiers, and stopped before a grey jet with a pointy nose. "Is it manned or unmanned? Let me tell you in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome. Or pilots judgement." Rhodey stopped and looked at his group of soldiers.**

 **"Colonel, it's..." Another voice sounded. The camera swiveled to reveal Tony, making his way towards Rhodey. "Why not a pilot without a plane?"**

 **"Look who fell out of the sky!" Rhodey exclaimed. "Mr. Tony Stark."**

 **"Speaking about manned or unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong." Tony said, as he shook the soldier's hands. "It's spring break - just remember that - spring break, 1987, that lovely lady, what was his name?"**

 **All the soldier's laughed.**

Steve smiled. Again, he was glad the army was so happy.

 **"Was it Ivan?" Tony asked, overpowering Rhodey's protesting splutters.**

 **"Don't do that, don't do that, they'll believe it, don't do that!" Rhodey said sternly, though he was grinning.**

 **"Okay, okay," Tony muttered, raising his eyebrows and sharing a smirk with the soldiers, causing them all to laugh again.**

 **"Give us a couple of minutes, you guys," Rhodey said, still chuckling.**

 **The soldiers wandered off, presumably admiring other planes.**

 **Rhodey clapped Tony on the shoulder. "I'm surprised!"**

 **"Why?"**

 **"I swear I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon."**

 **"I'm doing a little better than walking around," Tony said.**

"Yeah, you're _flying_!" Clint cried.

Tony thought for a moment. "No, not just yet. That comes later."

 **"Really?" Rhodey crossed his arms and gazed at his friend.**

 **"Yeah." Tony sighed slightly. "Rhodey, I'm working on something big."**

"Really big," Natasha muttered.

 **"I came to talk to you. I want you to be part of it."**

 **Rhodey laughed quietly. "You're about to make a whole lotta people around here real happy, because that little stunt at the press conference, that... that was juicy!"**

 **Tony swallowed. "This... is not for the military... I'm not... it's different..."**

 **Rhodey frowned. "What are you, humanitarian now or something?" He gazed at his friend, wondering if he was alright.**

 **"I need you to listen to me," Tony insisted.**

 **"What you need is time to get your mind right." Rhodey said coldly.**

Thor frowned. Weren't they friends? This was not how Midgardian friends should treat each other, right?

 **Tony broke out into a smile, but Rhodey didn't return it.**

 **"I'm serious."**

 **"Okay," Tony, shook his head, and the smile disappeared.**

 **Rhodey backed away, and nodded slightly. "It's nice seeing you, Tony."**

 **Tony just watched him go, defeat flickering in his eyes.**

 **The scene switched to an aerial view of the Malibu house.**

 **Then suddenly there was a hand that waved over a keyboard that glowed to life the moment the hand passed over it, each key with some sort of symbol, instead of letter. Tony began to quickly type.**

 **"JARVIS, you up?" Tony asked.**

 **"** ** _For you sir, always._** **" The AI replied.**

Steve smiled. He couldn't explain it, but Tony and that AI seemed to have an inseparable bond - constantly bickering and bouncing ideas off each other in ways that should've been impossible for a computer program. But then again, it was JARVIS, and JARVIS seemed to be able to do anything.

 **Tony was sitting at his desk, with two large screens resting on the table, and one hanging from the wall.**

 **"I'd like to open a new project file, index as; Mark II."**

 **"** ** _Shall I store this on the Stark Industries' central database?_** **" JARVIS asked as Tony pulled a design that was immediately recognized as the Mark I across the two screens, then on to a table's surface that flickered a light, bright blue, and a hologram of the Mark I hovered above it.**

 **"I don't know who to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server." Tony sighed.**

 **"** ** _Working on a secret project, are we sir?_** **"**

The Avengers, who knew JARVIS reasonably well, could practically hear the smirk in the AI's voice.

 **Tony didn't reply, and instead he focused on the holographic design in front of him. Gently, he pulled off the mask.**

"That's impressive tech, for 2008." Nick commented. Inside, he was jealous that Tony had such good technology, and SHIELD was nowhere near as advanced as him.

Tony smirked.

 **Tony pulled out a section from the torso, and threw it in a holographic bin. The design raised its arms horizontally.**

 **"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands."**

"Like hell, you don't," Clint murmured.

 **Tony turned the design around so the back of the hologram was facing him., and pulled another section out of the torso.**

 **"Maybe in mine it could actually do some good." He pulled the arms down and spun it, and it spiraled round and round very fast.**

 **The scene changed to the desert, a dark figure stumbling along the sand. It was clear that it was a sandstorm, the air was clogged up and foggy with the golden particles. Another man was digging furiously in the sand, and a pile of metal scraps lay beside him.**

"They're recovering the suit..." Bruce realized.

 **It turned out to be a rather large group of men that were searching, all bent down, hands in the sand. There was a pickup truck full of the metal scraps that had already been recovered. One man dug deeper and pulled out a small sheet of metal. He held it up, sand falling like a waterfall from its holes. The mask.**

"That's still freakin' scary..." Clint stared at the screen.

"Yup," Natasha agreed.

 **The man shouted something. Suddenly the creepy man turned, wearing goggles to protect his eyes from the sand. The right side of his bald head was burnt and bleeding, rotten flesh and infected skin.**

The Avengers grimaced at the sight.

 **He shouted something back. The man who had found the mask handed it over. The creepy man glared at it, eyes burning behind the goggles.**

 **The scene changed to Tony sitting at a desk in his workshop, fiddling with some sort of boot. A bot leant over his shoulder, helping.**

 **"Next," Tony murmured and he and the bot shifted slightly. "Up. Not the boot, DUM-E, right here."**

Steve smiled. He didn't know U, DUM-E or Butterfingers very well, but he knew Tony treated them like his kids, and loved them very much.

 **"You got me?"**

 **DUM-E whirred in response.**

 **"Stay put. Nice..." Tony shifted in his chair.**

 **DUM-E whirred again.**

 **"And you, you're no better at it at all. Lift... I got it."**

 **DUM-E whirred once again, this time slightly irritated.**

 **"Okay, I'm sorry, am I in your way?"**

 **Smoke spiraled off the mechanical boot, drifting into the air.**

 **"Up. That's great, don't even move."**

 **Tony squinted at the boot.**

 **"You... are a tragedy..."**

"Awwww, don't be mean to DUM-E!" Natasha pouted.

Everyone stared at her.

"Tasha. It's a robot." Clint said.

Tony practically growled. " _It_ is a _he_ , thank you very much."

Clint was silent. There was one thing that you didn't argue with Tony about, and that was his bots.

 **Tony sat back and admired his work, and the boot lowered its back heel.**

 **The scene switched to Tony standing in his workshop, from the point of view of a camera. A red record button glowed red in the top right hand corner.**

 **"Okay," Tony announced. "Let's do this right."**

Tony groaned.

 **Tony stepped backwards on some sort of tiles map. He was wearing the boots that he and DUM-E had been working on.**

 **"Start mark, half meter back of the center." Tony looked around and sighed. He had something wrapped around his knuckles too, the cords tangled around his chest.**

 **"DUM-E, look for light. Stand back for fire safety." He looked at the bot who was filming. "U, roll it."**

 **U zoomed out.**

 **"Okay," Tony bent his knees slightly and held out his hands in front of him. "We're gonna start nice and easy, raising 10% thrust capacity-"**

"Nope, no, nopedy-nope-nope-nope," Tony grumbled. _10%? What was he_ thinking _!?_

 **"-to achieve lift."**

 **A louder humming began, raising kind of like a plane's engine would do.**

 **"And, 3, 2, 1-"**

 **There was a loud spark and suddenly Tony was thrown into the air, slammed with a painful faceplant into the concrete wall and back to the ground with a loud, pained grunt.**

Everyone burst into laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- YOU FELL!? _TONY STARK_ _FELL_!?" Clint had fallen off his chair and was cackling hysterically.

Tony scowled. "It actually hurt quite a lot."

The insane laughter died down after three minutes or so, leaving Clint and Thor snickering quietly. Tony glared at them all.

Then he shrugged. "I've had worse."

 **DUM-E then blasted him with the fire hydrant.**

The laughter began again.

 **Tony was sitting at his desk, reading and typing furiously, sipping a cup of coffee as he worked. Then Tony was at his holographic table, switching around more mechanical things that not many people could make sense of, spinning the design around. It turned out to be some sort of glove, and Tony reached over and put his entire forearm into it, fitting perfectly.**

Steve, and although he shouldn't be, was still slightly mesmerized by the advanced technology, even though he lived in the Avengers tower, with JARVIS the AI running everything. Yeah, he still couldn't wrap his head around that one.

 **It then switched to the holographic design actually being made, Tony clasping the metal over his wrist. The blaster glowed white on the palm of his hand. He suddenly noticed Pepper entering the lab, but he couldn't pull his arm out; the entire limb was covered in metal or wires or gears or God knows what.**

 **She entered with a square parcel wrapped in brown paper and a mug of coffee balanced on top.**

 **"I've been buzzing you, did you not hear the intercom?" She asked.**

 **"Yeah, everything's... what?"**

Nick and the Avengers rolled their eyes.

"He _never_ hears the intercom," Natasha grumbled.

Tony grinned. "But that's why I have Mr. JARVIS here!"

" _Yes, indeed, sir._ " The AI agreed.

Tony laughed.

 **"Obadiah's upstairs-"**

 **"Great, great, I'll be right up." Tony grunted as he lifted up his metal encased hand.**

 **"I thought you were done making weapons?" Pepper asked as she approached him, placing the parcel and coffee on a workable.**

 **"It isn't." Tony replied. "This a flight stabiliser. It's completely harmless."**

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Sure, completely harmless. Tony, nothing is ever harmless with you."

 **Tony pressed a button on the table and a loud mechanical humming noise sounded, Tony aiming the 'flight stabiliser' in front of him. There was a loud blast, and Tony was thrown backwards with the impact. Pepper turned away, covering her face with fear. There was a loud shattering sound. When the racket finally died down, Pepper turned to Tony, her expression murderous.**

 **"I didn't expect that," Tony attempted to explain.**

 **Pepper just stared at him.**

Yup, what did I tell you? It's a short chappie. Anyway, thank you so much for all the support I'm getting, it's absolutely insane, I can't thank you enough. I apologise once again, but if you want me to update quicker it would probably help to review and make me feel guilty since I am a professional procrastinator but I work well under pressure. Have a nice day (or night, depends who you are ;))

Please FF&R!

(Favourite, Follow and Review)


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everybody! I'm sorry I haven't updated for _ages,_ I went on holiday and wasn't allowed to bring my iPad. I'm actually leaving again today, and I've only been back for barely a day! Again, I'm not allowed to bring my iPad. :(. I'm sorry, my mum's just really strict with electronics. Then I have a week, and then, school! Yay. I hate school. So not looking forward to it. :(. Anyway, I needed to work quickly on this because I'm leaving in half an hour and I'm only allowed any electronics after 12:00PM. Fun, huh? I'm supposed to spend 'Family Time'. Ughhhhhhhh.

Anyway, I hope you like it! 

ENJOY!

 **The scene switched to Tony walking back up the stairs that led to his lab. Soft, gentle piano playing echoed through the room.**

 **"How'd it go?" Tony asked.**

 **The camera's view changed to Obadiah, who was the one who had been playing the piano. He continued his piece. Obadiah barely glanced up.**

 **"Wow, it was that bad, huh?" Tony asked as he gazed at something by the coffee table in front of a sofa where Pepper was sitting.**

 **"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad." Obadiah replied, still focused on the piano.**

 **"Uh huh," Tony said, opening the pizza box. "Sure doesn't."**

 **Obadiah looked up from the piano and stopped playing. "Oh boy. It would've done better if you were there."**

 **"You told me to lay low and that's what I've been doing."**

"True..." Clint muttered.

 **"I lay low and you take care if all the-"**

 **"Hey, come on." Obadiah interrupted, walking up to Tony. "In public, the press... this was a board of directors meeting."**

 **"This-this was a board of a directors meeting?" Tony looked confused as Obie sat down beside him.**

 **"The Board are claiming a Post Traumatic Stress."**

Tony shifted uncomfortably. He knew, deep inside, he probably did have PTSD. But no one knew. He didn't actually know himself; he'd never gone to a doctor to be diagnosed.

"What's Post Traumatic Stress?" Steve asked, confused. He was still reasonably new to this modern age and although he'd done a lot of reading, there were still words that he'd come across and not know what they meant.

"We call it PTSD." Natasha said. "Stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's what you'd call shell shock."

"Oh." Steve nodded, though he was still slightly confused. Why would they think Tony had PTSD? Technically, Tony hadn't gone to war...

 **"They're filing an injunction." Obadiah said.**

 **"A what?!" Tony looked concerned, staring at Obadiah with wide eyes.**

 **"They wanna lock you out."**

"Yeah, right." Tony snorted. "More like _you_ do."

 **"Why, 'cause the stocks dip 40 points? We knew that was gonna happen." Tony raised his brows.**

 **"56 and a half." Pepper corrected.**

 **"It doesn't matter!" Tony raised his voice slightly and turned to Pepper. "We own a controlling interest in the company."**

 **Obadiah ran a hand over his bald head. "Tony, the Board has rights too. They're making the case that you, and your new direction, isn't in a company's best interest."**

 **Tony was looking more and more agitated throughout this explanation. Obadiah was talking to him like he was a child. "I'm being responsible. That's a new direction. For me - for the company." He snapped.**

"You do make a good point," Steve said.

Tony smirked.

 **Obadiah raised his eyebrows unbelievingly.**

 **"I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that-"**

 **Pepper sighed a little.**

 **"Oh, this is great." Tony grumbled, standing up and grabbing the entire pizza box for himself.**

 **"Oh, c'mon wait! Tony - Tony!" Obadiah protested.**

 **"I'll be in the shop!" Tony called, not looking back.**

 **"Hey, hey Tony - listen." Tony continued walking but stopped when a hand caught him on the back. "I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something!" Tony stared at the older man, exasperated. "Something to pitch 'em!"**

 **Obadiah glanced down and pointed at Tony's chest, poking the arc reactor with a finger.**

 **"Let me have the engineers analyze that, you know, draw some specs," Obie said.**

 **"No." Tony said.**

 **"Gimme-"**

 **"No! Absolutely not! This one stays with me!" Tony yelled through Obadiah's protesting splutters.**

"Why would he want to take it? It's keeping you alive." Clint frowned.

 **"That's it, Obie.** ** _Forget it_** **." Tony backed away from the older man.**

 **"Alright, well, this stays with me then." Obadiah held up the pizza box that Tony had taken from the coffee table. He opened it, revealing a margarita pizza. "Go on, here. Take a piece - have two."**

 **"Thank you." Tony snatched two slices. He turned to quickly hop down the staircase to his lab.**

 **"Do you mind if I come down to see what you're doing?" Obie called after him.**

 **"** ** _Goodnight_** **, Obie," Tony said, not looking back.**

" _Goodnight_ , Tony!" Clint said mockingly. "Did you actually sleep?"

Tony shrugged. "Can't remember. Probably not."

Steve frowned. He knew Tony was a bit of an insomniac, often not going to sleep for days at a time, living off scraps of pizza and coffee. A lot of coffee. He wondered whether Tony had slept last night, but he doubted it. Stark had spent the night in the lab, if he recalled. He remembered Tony coming from there that morning, to get his daily dose of caffeine. The man was obsessed.

 **The scene switched to Tony in his garage, his fancy cars glinting behind him.**

Clint breathed. Tony had amazing cars.

 **Sunlight shone in through the windows, filling the large hall. U, Butterfingers and DUM-E were positioned around Tony, who was wearing gloves of metal, wires looping around the iron. The arc reactor glowed blue in his chest.**

 **"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0."**

"37? That's a lot of tests." Natasha said.

"I wonder how many times you fell," Bruce chuckled, and the Avengers laughed.

Tony pouted. "It's actually really difficult, you know. And the falls actually hurt quite a lot."

He grimaced as he recalled one of them.

The Avengers just burst out laughing again.

 **"For lack of better option, DUM-E is still on fire watch," Tony shot a glare at the robot. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I** ** _am_** **donating you to a city college."**

 **DUM-E whirred.**

Everyone laughed.

 **"All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity." Tony readied his arms, palms facing the floor. He bent his knees slightly. "And 3, 2, 1-"**

 **There was a blast and all of a sudden Tony was hovering, blasts of whitish fire coming from the metal boots and gloves. Tony was obviously straining and his legs and arms twitched violently as he forced them to stay in place. Sparks flew from the gloves, and Tony visibly winced, but he was grinning like a madman. He cut off the blasters and landed unsteadily.**

 **"Okay," he breathed. He turned to DUM-E, who had been pointing at Tony the entire time. "Please don't follow me around with it either, I feel like I'm gonna catch in fire spontaneously."**

"Wow," Fury laughed. "Paranoid, much?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "He was being annoying."

 **DUM-E continued following around his creator.**

 **"Just stand down." Tony snapped. "If something happens, then come in."**

 **DUM-E whirred slightly sadly and apologetically.**

 **"Again, let's bring this up to 2.5%. And, 3, 2, 1-"**

 **There was a bigger and louder blast, and Tony rose higher and faster. Jets of white blasted out of the boots and gloves, the gloves sparking slightly. Tony shifted around in the air, drifting over to the corner of the hall. He grunted as he tried to control it, but he found himself heading quite steadily over to the corner.**

 **"Okay, this is not where I want to be," Tony said, voice raised. He swallowed and tried again, to no avail. He was hovering just above a slim white Ferrari.**

"The cars!" Clint gasped in horror.

Tony smirked. "Nice, aren't they?"

"They're going to be ruined!"

"Ah, no worries." Tony chuckled.

 **"Ohhhhhh, not the car, not the car," he groaned as he continued to move up the row of fancy sports car, the heat of the blasters nearly burning the stunning paintwork.**

"Oh, God, the caaaaaarrrrrsssss," Clint wailed.

Natasha swatted at him. "They're just cars."

"No, no, they're beautiful-" Natasha punched the archer, and he shut up.

 **Eventually Tony managed to move away from the relatively unscathed cars, but he hovered over his desk, sending paperwork whirling to the floor. To slow down, Tony took a risk and moved his gloved hands from horizontal to vertical, and much to the inventors relief, it worked. But the sensation didn't last for long and he began to drift quickly backwards, the gloves sparking dangerously.**

 **"Hahahahaha-" Tony laughed anxiously, but it was obviously fake. "Could be worse, could be worse, we're fine, we're fine..." But he was reassuring himself. Badly. "Okay, okay."**

 **Tony swiveled into the center of the room, and all of a sudden he seemed to relax, and hovered completely straight. He twisted round slowly as he cautiously lowered himself down. Suddenly the flight stabilizers cut out, and Tony dropped the last couple of inches. He gasped and stumbled, but stayed upright.**

 **Panting, Tony looked around and looked at DUM-E. The robot whirred and aimed at him, and Tony held up his hand.**

 **"No, AH AH AH AH AH AH!" He shouted**

 **DUM-E whirred sadly but stopped. Tony blinked a couple of times.**

 **"Yeah. I can fly."**

Everyone burst out laughing. Tony scowled.

 **The scene switched to the boots, clonking along much like ski-boots and a robot covered the complicated wirings with plates of shining metal, same for the gloves.**

 **Suddenly the camera was from Tony's point of view as he lowered the familiar Iron Man faceplate to his eyes, the blue slits glowing.**

 **"JARVIS, you there?" Tony asked.**

 **"** ** _At your service, Sir._** **" The AI promptly replied.**

 **"Engage head up display," Tony ordered, as layers of holographic circles ringed his eyes, tabs appearing with codes and information, all flashing the same blue as the Arc Reactor.**

"Woah," Steve breathed. "Is-is that what you see? When you're in the suit, of course."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. It monitors my vitals, your vitals, enhances my sight, tells me the suit's condition, power percentage, percentage of succeeding or losing, offers battle strategies, I can surf the Internet, watch the news, hack into any government facility - including SHIELD-"

Fury scowled.

"-all while blasting aliens and saving the world."

Everyone gaped at him.

He smirked. "I know. I'm awesome."

 **"** ** _Will do, sir._** **" JARVIS said.**

 **As Tony looked around, circles focused on his cars, and tabs of info of them popped up.**

 **"Alright, what do you say?" Tony asked.**

 **"** ** _I have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online and ready._** **"**

 **A smile twitched at Tony's lips. "Start the virtual walk around."**

 **"** ** _Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment._** **" As the AI spoke, a holographic image of the Suit popped up, just before Tony's eyes.**

 **"Do a check on the control surfaces."**

 **"** ** _As you wish, sir._** **"**

 **Dramatic music pumped loudly as the metal plating on the Mark II began to tighten and fold in. When it was complete, Iron Man stood there, with all his grandeur.**

 **The shining iron gleamed in the hall's light, the Arc Reactor glowed a bright white and the slits that were Iron Man's eyes gleamed blue.**

 **"** ** _Test complete._** **" JARVIS announced. "** ** _Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics._** **"**

 **"Ahhhh, yeah, tell you what - do a weather and ATC check. Start listening the ground control."**

 **"** ** _Sir, there is still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight!_** **" JARVIS protested, a hint of irritation in his voice.**

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Since when has that ever stopped him?"

" _My point exactly, Agent Romanov,_ " JARVIS said.

"Hey, who asked you?" Tony complained.

 **"JARVIS..." Tony said in an almost scolding tone. "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."**

"That makes no sense whatsoever." Nick declared.

Tony rolled his eyes. "It's a metaphor."

 **Tony, or, Iron Man, stood just by the doorway to the hall, ready to exit.**

 **"Ready?" He asked. "3, 2, 1."**

 **The flight stabilizers came much more smoothly than before, with no sparks and a small humming noise. Tipping forward, Iron Man zipped towards the exit and heading straight up the well lit ramp that was usually used by his cars.**

 **"Wooooooooooooooooooooooo-yeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Tony whooped loudly as he shot out of the Malibu house and into the night sky. "Woooohooooo!"**

 **He spiraled above the town, having the time of his life. Tony whooped in exhilaration, and his eyes widened with pleasure.**

"I can't believe you think that's fun." Bruce had turned slightly pale. "Imagine if you had fallen?"

Tony coughed slightly and avoided eye contact. Yes, he remembered the frost issue. And he remembered falling. Bruce wouldn't be pleased.

 **"It feels like a dream," Tony said to no one in particular as he swooped around in the starry sky. You could see the bright lights of the city far, far below.**

 **Tony's mask focused on something in the distance, something that was bright and filled with light. A Ferris wheel. It zoomed in on a carriage, where a little boy and girl were happily licking their ice creams, watching him curiously. Tony screamed past them and shot straight into the air, heading vertically into the sky.**

 **"Alright, let's see what this thing can do," Tony said.**

"Oh, God." Natasha groaned.

 **"What's the SR-71's record?"**

 **"** ** _The altitude record for fixed-wing flight is 85,000 feet, sir._** **" JARVIS replied.**

"You're not going to try and beat that, are you Tony?" Clint moaned.

 **"Records are made to be broken," Tony muttered. The Mark II accelerated and Tony continued to push into the air. "C'MON!"**

 **Tony sliced through the darkness, the blasters crackling under the pressure.**

 **"** ** _Sir, there is a potentially fatal build-up of ice occurring,_** **" JARVIS said, urgency lacing his British voice.**

"Stop! Go down!" Steve cried. How stupid was Tony?

 **Tony completely ignored his AI and carried on shooting upwards.**

 **"Keep going!" He shouted.**

Fury's eyes widened. "Do you want to die, Stark!? There's an ice build-up, listen to your AI!"

JARVIS sighed in Tony's earpiece. " _Director, I stopped hoping for that years ago._ "

Everyone laughed. The AI had an impossible (no, literally) sense of humor.

 **"Higher!" Tony commanded.**

 **Suddenly the boosters cut out and the lights in Iron Man's eyes flickered. With only a little bit of momentum left, Tony stayed floating in the air for a moment before tumbling right back to earth.**

 **Tony gasped. "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed.**

"Oh my God," Clint breathed. Hulk wasn't there to save Tony this time.

Bruce glowered at the inventor. "You, are incredibly stupid and foolish."

Natasha snorted. "And, you didn't realize this already?"

"Actually," Tony pouted. "I'm a genius."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

 **"We're iced up, JARVIS, deploy flaps!" Tony yelled over the ear-piercing whistling of the wind. "** ** _JARVIS!?_** **"**

 **Iron Man just fell through the air, and for a moment it was deathly quiet, apart from the howling of the wind.**

 **"C'mon, we gotta break the ice!" Tony commanded to no one but himself. Perhaps JARVIS.**

 **The entire Suit was covered in ice, encrusted with frost. The cold had entered all of the Suit's cracks, freezing them almost like rust. As Tony fell, little shards of ice came off because of the wind. Tony clawed at the flaps and blasters, desperate to get the thick layer of frost off. Iron Man continued to tumble down to the ground, the lights of the city now clear, revealing exactly how close Tony was to the ground.**

 **Suddenly there was a small explosion of ice and the layers of frost were viciously ripped off by the wind.**

 **A humming noise started, and the lights in the slits of Iron Man's faceplate flickered on, and Tony could see again.**

"Oh, thank God," Bruce breathed quietly, so no one could hear.

Steve was extremely relieved, to say the least. He hated it when the power cut out and Tony fell, especially since the wormhole in New York.

 **But the blasters didn't seem to come on, and Tony still fell.**

"Why can you not fly?" Thor asked anxiously.

 **At the very last moment, the blasters shot on and Tony swooped down low on a busy night street, filled with pedestrians and taxis and cars, so close to the street that the metal almost scraped the concrete. Cars and trucks honked and screeched to stops as Tony zipped past them with unbelievable speed, whooping loudly and laughing with glee. He was obviously having the time of his life. Tony continued to fly steadily, and the city lights slowly faded into the background, until Tony's beach mansion appeared. Tony swooped back down to his Malibu house, hovering vertically just above the roof.**

 **"Cut power." He commanded.**

 **The blasters cut off, and Tony dropped the few inches to the roof.**

 **But he didn't stop there.**

 **The roof collapsed under the weight of the Suit, and Tony was sent crashing down to the piano on the next floor down, through that floor and into his garage, crushing a sleek blue Mercedes.**

"Holy shit!" Steve yelped.

"The car!" Clint wailed. "YOU CRUSHED THE CAR!"

 **Every car's alarm went off, the headlights flashing and the sirens droning. Tony lay stunned in his Iron Man suit, not moving.**

 **DUM-E, who had narrowly avoided being crushed, sprayed Tony with the foam that Tony had told him to use when he was on fire when he was testing the Suit. Tony groaned and laid his head back in pure frustration and exasperation.**

They all burst into laughter.

 **The scene switched to Tony walking through his lab, arc reactor glowing, pressing an ice pack to his head. His face was twisted into a grimace. Obviously, falling through the ceiling, piano, floor and a Mercedes, had not been pleasant.**

 **The brown parcel with to cup of coffee (long cold by now) were still on his workshop desk. Tony walked past it without much notice and snatched the coffee up.**

Clint wrinkled his nose. "That's gotta be cold by now,"

Tony shrugged. "Caffeine's caffeine."

 **Tony suddenly froze and furrowed his eyebrows, as if his brain had only just registered something. He swiveled round and turned to the parcel. Putting his coffee down and removing his ice pack, Tony frowned. He was obviously confused.**

 **A post-it-note had been stuck on the top of the parcel. From Pepper, it read.**

Steve leant forward in his chair slightly, intrigued.

 **Carefully, Tony began to unwrap the brown paper, ripping it slightly.**

 **It was the old Arc Reactor with a ring around it, reading** ** _Proof that Tony Stark has a heart,_** **in a small glass cabinet.**

When Tony saw this he broke out into a smile. That gift had been awesome. Not only was it just nice and thoughtful, it had saved his life, quite literally.

The Avengers chuckled a little bit when they saw that. They all knew Pepper reasonably well, and she was a kind, thoughtful lady that had a little bit of a temper. But she was really very wonderful, and this proved it.

 **Tony gazed at the gift for a moment, and then his mouth twitched into a real, genuine smile. Not the arrogant smirk that everyone was accustomed to, no, this was a real smile. A true one.**

Hope you liked the new chappie! I'll see ya next time!

Please FF&R!


	8. Chapter 8

Um, so, hi. I don't really know what to say. It's been a loooooooooong, time, I know. But I just moved to the other side of the planet (like actually, if you drilled a hole from where I was previously living through the earth, you'd probably get pretty much exactly where I'm living now.) I had to start another school, a new house, new friends, a whole new life. Then I had account issues where I literally couldn't get in but that's all okay now.

So a lot of the reviews I've gotten said that Natasha was OOC in previous chapters and I recently rewatched a bunch of marvel movies (saw Spiderman homecoming, it was AMAZING, I love Tom Holland's portrayal of Peter Parker) and I 100% agree, my Natasha was absolutely AWFUL I am so so sorry. I tried to make her better here, so please give me some feedback on how she was.

Anyways, I know how long its been but hopefully I'll still have some readers out there, so... ENJOY!

 **The scene changed into a familiar cave, where Tony had been held hostage. Parts of the original Suit, Mark I were being put together by two men, who were obviously clueless. The creepy man, Raza, watched them silently.**

"Are you kidding me?" Tony scoffed. "That doesn't go there!"

Fury smirked. "Like you said before, Stark, they really are idiots."

Thor nodded. "Stupid mortals."

Everyone turned towards him, eyebrows raised. Natasha twirled a knife in her fingers.

The Asgardian's eyes widened. "I did not mean you, friends. I meant the men on screen." He said hurriedly.

 **The two men argued about where a silver sheet of metal should go, consulting diagrams that Tony had made, gesturing to different parts of the Suit.**

Clint shook his head. "Clueless."

"That's not good, though." Steve said worriedly. "If they do manage to fix it... who knows what they'll do."

Tony smirked. "I do."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, this is in the past.

 **Raza glared intensely at the mask of the Suit, smoke curling off his cigarette.**

 **The mask faded into a diagram, a modern one on Tony's holographic screen.**

 **Tony was sitting an office chair, surrounded by laptop and tv screens, holographic ones and Apple Macs. The Arc Reactor glowed steadily and an ice pack was strapped to his shoulder.**

 **"Notes: main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. The whole pressurization is problematic." Tony said. "I'm thinking '** ** _icy_** **' is a probable factor."**

 **"** ** _A very astute observation, sir._** **" JARVIS replied as Tony shifted in his chair uncomfortably, wincing. "** ** _Perhaps if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exo systems_** **."**

 **Tony turned to a group of screens to his left.**

 **"Connect to the Cisco, have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold-titanium alloy from the Seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure the fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"**

"Ummmm, no." Clint said. "Speak English, Tony. What the hell did that mean?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to bore you, Legolas. Anyway, for the bajilionth time; I'm a _genius_."

 **"** ** _Yes_** **." JARVIS said. "** ** _Shall I render using proposed specifications?_** **"**

 **"Thrill me," Tony said, turning towards one of computers. Over by the wall was a flat screened TV, where the news was playing.**

 **"Tonight's red hot, red carpeted, right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund has become the place to be..." A blonde news reporter was saying.**

 **Tony flinched slightly at his name and frowned, leaning over one of his computers to see the screen.**

 **"JARVIS, did we get a invite from them?" Tony asked, crossing his arms.**

 **"** ** _I have no record of an invitation, sir._** **" JARVIS replied.**

"You didn't get invited to your own party?" Clint asked. "That sucks."

Tony snorted. "Tell me about it."

 **"...haven't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference." As the woman spoke, Tony reached over to his desk and placed his Iron Man mask on his face.**

 **"Some claim he's suffering from PTSD and has been bed ridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight." The news reporter continued, still beaming.**

 **Tony looked away at one of his screens, a small smirk playing on his lips.**

"Oh no." Bruce groaned. He knew that look.

 **"** ** _The render is complete._** **" JARVIS announced. Tony looked at a diagram of the Suit, which was the odd colour combination of silver and gold, not the accustomed gold and red.**

 **"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" Tony asked.**

 **"** ** _What was I thinking?_** **" JARVIS asked sarcastically. "** ** _You're usually_** **so** ** _discrete_** **."**

The Avengers laughed. Even Natasha cracked a smile.

"How is that even possible?" Fury asked. "It's an AI, it can't have humor,"

"Hey," Tony said sharply, sitting up. "JARVIS is a he, thank you very much. He got the humor by listening, learning. I help, obviously. I explain sayings, puns, jokes. Now Jay pretty much knows them all. He understands how humans converse and... I guess he can feel emotion. Not like our emotion, but different. Like robotic emotion. It's... difficult to explain. I guess he kind of... has his own mind, own thoughts. Sure, he sticks to the protocols but..."

" _I can make my own decisions._ " JARVIS finished. " _Indeed, sir. I am very much my own person_."

Tony smiled warmly. "Yes, yes you are, honey buns."

"Honey buns!?" Clint choked.

The genius laughed.

 **Tony glanced at a sleek black car that was painted with red hot orangey flames.**

 **"Tell you what... throw a little hot rod red in there."**

 **"** ** _Yes, that will help you keep a low profile._** **" JARVIS agreed, sarcasm and amusement lacing his words.**

Steve chuckled slightly. He could just imagine the AI rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

 **On one of Tony's screens, the Suit changed to the familiar red and gold everyone was used to.**

Clint whooped. "And the Iron Man is born!"

 **"** ** _The render is complete,_** **" JARVIS announced.**

 **"Hey, I like it. Tony said, as he began to gather his things. "Fabricate it. Paint it!"**

 **"** ** _Commensing an automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours._** **" JARVIS said.**

 **Tony glanced down at a golden watch on his wrist.**

Steve snickered. "You have a golden watch?"

Tony smirked. "Damn right I do."

 **"Don't wait on me, honey." He told JARVIS.**

 **The scene switched to a busy dark road, car engines vrooming, especially Tony's silver Mercedes. He zipped past other cars, overtaking them without indicating, way over the speed limit, probably breaking every road-law there is.**

Steve gave the billionaire a distasteful look.

 **He pulled up by a big, lit up building, the car's silver paint glistening in the rain. Tony opened the door and immediately there was this butler guy standing beside him in a red tux. Tony himself was wearing a traditional black suit and bow tie.**

 **Tony nodded to the butler guy and began to walk up the red carpet, which was surrounded by squealing girls in tight, revealing dresses.**

 **The view changed to Obadiah, who was giving an interview to a news-reporter.**

 **"The weapons manufacturing is only a one small part of what Stark Industries is all about..." He was saying, seemingly unaware of the sudden uproar of screams going on behind him, presumably Tony's arrival. He trailed off, and suddenly spun round to see Tony.**

 **"Hey Tony," One girl in a tight, short dress flirted. "Remember me?"**

 **"Sure don't." Tony replied unfazed, not even glancing at the girl.**

"Ha!" Clint laughed. "One of your One Night Stands', I presume?"

Tony grinned and shrugged. "Like I said, I don't remember."

Clint shook his head in dismay.

 **Cameras flashed and shrieks filled the air as Tony continued to make his way up the carpet.**

 **He patted an old man with two you for girls hanging off each of his shoulders.**

 **"You look great, Hef."**

 **Hef turned around to look for Tony, but he was already long gone.**

 **Tony approached Obadiah, almost hostile.**

 **"What's the world coming to when a guy's gotta crash his own party?"**

 **Obie's face split into a grin, slightly unnaturally.**

 **"Lookatchoo..." He said, looking Tony up and down. "Hey, what a surprise..."**

Bruce shook his head. "He really doesn't want you there."

"I know."

Steve cast a glance at the genius. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, and he was glaring at Stane like his life depended on it.

 _What had Stane done?_ Rogers asked himself for the thousandth time.

 **Tony began to edge past his 'guardian', but Obadiah turned round to face him, and their heads were so close together it seemed like Obadiah hated Tony and wanted to kill him.**

 **"Listen... Take it slow, alright? I think I got the board where we want 'em." He said.**

 **"You got it," Tony said, flashing him a bright but fake grin. He began to walk away. "Just cabin fever, I'll be just a minute."**

 **The scene changed to inside of the building, a room crowded with people wearing fancy outfits and jewelry, with a bar to the left side. Tony approached it.**

 **"Gimme a scotch, I'm starving."**

"Usually when people are starving, people eat food, Stark," Natasha said, glaring at Tony.

He shrugged. "Eh, it's the same for me."

 **The man next to him turned round. It was Agent Coulson.**

 **"Mr Stark."**

 **"Yah?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at him.**

 **"Agent Coulson,"**

 **"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, the guy from the..." Tony waved a finger at him, scotch in hand.**

 **"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."**

Clint buried his face in his arms. "Ughhh,"

Even Fury had furrowed his brow. "It really doesn't sound very good, does it?"

Natasha just had her poker face, with only a slight tilt of her left brow.

 **Tony whistled. "God, you got... you need a new name for that."**

 **"Yeah, I get that a lot." Phil smiled. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things. Let's just put something in the books. How about the, 24th, 7pm at Stark Industries."**

 **About halfway through Coulson's speech, Toby had gotten distracted. A woman, with wavy strawberry blonde hair, in a sleek blue dress. He continued to stare.**

 **"Tell you what," he said, holding out a hand to the SHIELD agent, without even looking at the man. "You got it. You're absolutely right. Well, uh, I'mma go to my my assistant," he gestured ahead. "And... we'll make it a date."**

 **The scene changed to Tony approaching the lady in the blue dress.**

 **"You look fantastic, I didn't realize it was you."**

 **Pepper gave a little gasp and spun round.**

"Ohhhh goooooooooddddddddd..." Clint groaned. "This is gonna be cringey, isn't it?"

Tony shrugged, but he winced slightly at the memory. It had been seriously awkward.

 **"What are you doing here?" Pepper asked, eyes wide.**

 **"Just avoiding government agents," Tony said casually, glancing behind him.**

Clint snorted.

 **"Are you by yourself?" Pepper asked.**

 **"Yes. Where'd you get that dress?" Tony eyed her.**

 **"Oh, it was a birthday present." Pepper smiled.**

 **"That's great."**

 **"From you, actually."**

 **"Well, I got great taste." Tony grinned cockily.**

Steve rolled his eyes. It seemed like he had been doing that lately.

 **"Yes," Pepper agreed.**

 **"You wanna dance?" Tony asked, gesturing to the dance floor where multiple coupled were slow dancing together.**

 **"Oh, no." Pepper shook her head. "Thank you,"**

 **"All right," Tony brushed past her. "Come on."**

 **He grabbed her wrist and gently tugged her to the floor anyway.**

Natasha sent Tony a scathing glare. Tony visibly flinched under it.

"I swear, you're like a frickin'... Batwoman or somethin'." He muttered.

 **Tony placed them in the center of the dance floor. They slowdanced for a little, swaying to the gentle piano music, before Tony spoke.**

 **"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asked, watching her.**

 **"Oh, uh, oh... no, no. I-I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress that has no back." She said, watching the dancing crowd around her.**

 **"Well, I think you look great and you smell great," Tony said, ignoring the comment about the '** ** _dancing with her boss_** **'.**

Natasha, Steve, Bruce, Clint and Fury all rolled their eyes at the billionaire's ignorance.

 **"Oh, God," Pepper breathed, shutting her eyes for a moment.**

 **"But I could fire you if that would take the edge off," Tony raised his eyebrows.**

 **"I actually don't think you could tie your shoes without me," Pepper grinned.**

"That's true." Bruce nodded. "Very true,"

Tony feigned a look of offense. "Hey!"

 **"I'd make it a week," Tony protested.**

 **"Really?" The strawberry-blonde looked amused.**

 **"Sure." Tony nodded.**

 **"What's your social security number?" Pepper quizzed.**

 **There was silence for a moment. Pepper raised her eyebrows, as if to say, well? Eventually Tony answered.**

 **"Five." He deadpanned.**

Fury snorted. " _Five_?"

 **"Five?" Pepper was trying to hide her smug smile, and failing miserably. "Right. Missing just... a couple of digits there..."**

 **"The other eight?" Tony asked.**

 **Pepper laughed.**

 **"So? I got you for the other eight."**

 **She smiled. They stared at each other for a moment, and it seemed to dawn on Pepper how awkward this was. She cleared her throat and stared at the ground, still swaying to the music with Tony.**

 **"How about a little air?" Tony offered, his dark eyes following her every move.**

 **"Yes, I need some air," Pepper agreed, suddenly sounding a whole lot more professional.**

 **They headed away from the dance floor, Agent Coulson watching them.**

Tony shivered. "Ugh, I didn't know he was staring at us."

Clint rolled his eyes. "He is kind of a secret agent. You know, a _secret_ agent?"

 **The scene changed, and Tony and Pepper were standing on a balcony overlooking the city, a busy street bustling with bright car headlights below.**

 **"That was totally weird," Pepper said.**

 **"Totally harmless," Tony corrected.**

 **Pepper shook her head. "It was totally not harmless, by the way."**

 **"We're dancing, no one's even watching."**

"It appears that the Son of Coul was," Thor said.

 **"Everybody who I work with - no, you know why?" Pepper brushed her hair out of her face angrily.**

 **"I think you lost objectivity. I think they just, people - we just danced," Tony said.**

 **"No, I know, but... it was not just a dance, you don't understand because you're** ** _you_** **!" Pepper argued, beginning to get aggravated. "And everybody knows exactly who you are, and how you are with girls, and all of** ** _that_** **, which is completely fine. But, you know, then** ** _me_** **, you're my** ** _boss_** **, and I'm dancing with** ** _you_** **-"**

 **"I don't think it was taken that way." Tony interrupted and shook his head.**

Steve raised his eyebrows and looked at Stark, exasperated. "God, how naive can you be?"

Tony stuck his tongue out at him.

 **"-because it makes me look like the one who's trying to..." Pepper continued, ignoring Tony**

 **"I just think you're overstating it." Tony cut in again.**

 **"-you know, and we're here, and then I'm wearing this ridiculous dress, and then we were dancing like that and..." Pepper shook her head as Tony watched her, his dark eyes earnest.**

 **The camera panned out, revealing how close the two were standing, facing each other. All of a sudden Pepper leant forward, Tony following, his arm sliding up hers. Their lips were barely a millimetre away from touching before Pepper leaned back, and she seemed to suddenly realise what she was doing.**

 **"I would like a drink, please." She requested, still staring into Tony's eyes.**

 **"Got it, okay." Tony replied, a little too quickly. Even the desensitised Tony Stark, with practically no ability to sense other people's emotions, seemed to pick up on the awkwardness of this situation. He shifted past Pepper and went back into the building, Pepper's eyes following him as he went.**

 **"I would like a vodka martini, please." She said.**

 **"Okay."**

 **"Very dry with olives - a lot of olives. Like, at least 3 olives."**

"The Lady Pepper likes her olives." Thor stated, nodding approvingly.

 **The scene changed, back at the bar with Tony, where he had previously met with Coulson. The party was still bustling all around, chatter bouncing off the walls.**

 **A bartender leant forward over the bar to hear Tony as he ordered.**

 **"Two vodka martinis, extra dry, extra olives, extra fast." He folded a bunch of dollar notes and placed them in an empty glass in front of him on the bar. "Make one of them dirty, will ya'?" The waiter gave a curt nod and turned away.**

 **A blonde woman in a sleek black dress appeared from behind a couple and a ginger lady flirting with another bartender. She was recognized from before, a reporter Tony had had a one-night-stand with, before Afghanistan, before everything.**

 **"Wow." She smiled. "Tony Stark."**

 **"Oh, hey," Tony greeted her.**

 **"Fancy seeing you here." She joined him at the bar.**

 **Tony opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, hesitantly. There was an awkward silence.**

 **"Carrie." He guessed.**

"Christine." Clint corrected, shooting a look at Tony as Steve shook his head.

"How did you remember that?" Tony stared at him. "Out of all the things you've seen, you remember that lady's name?"

Clint shrugged. "She was hot, bro!" He ignored Natasha's disapproving death glare.

 **"Christine," Christine corrected.**

 **"That's right." Tony nodded curtly, looking sheepish.**

 **"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight." She narrowed her eyes at him.**

"Huh?" Bruce asked, confused.

 **Tony pulled a face, eyes diverted at the bar.**

 **"Can I at least get a reaction from you?" She asked.**

 **"Panic." Tony said. "I would say panic is my reaction."**

 **"Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity."**

 **Tony shrugged. "Yeah... they just put my name on the invitation, I don't know what to tell you."**

 **"I actually almost bought it, hook, line and sinker."Christine shook her head, staring at Stark almost curiously.**

 **"I was out of town for a couple of months, in case you didn't hear."**

 **"Is this what you call accountability?" She demanded. "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?" She handed Tony a picture that he glanced at before his eyes flicked back upwards, this time filled with question and confusion.**

"Gulmira." Steve said quietly. "That's where-"

"Yinsen came from, yeah, I know." Tony cut him off, avoiding eye-contact.

Yes, they all remembered Gulmira.

 **Tony flicked through the images. A village, destroyed. Then 3 arabic men carrying a case in which the words Stark Industries were printed. A close up of the cases. And then a picture of an incredibly large missile, steel and shining in the sun.**

"Damn." Fury shook his head. He was just glad Stark was on their side.

 **"When were these taken?" Tony asked, voice low.**

 **"Yesterday."**

 **Tony shook his head before finally tearing his eyes away. "I didn't approve any shipment."**

 **"Well, your company did." Christine stated angrily.**

 **"Well, I'm not my company." Tony retorted.**

 **The scene changed an Tony was outside again on the red carpet, with reporters and paparazzi buzzing behind the barriers. He was standing next to Obadiah, who requesting a reporter quieted.**

 **"Please, do you mind?" He asked.**

 **"Have your seen these pictures?" Tony demanded. Obadiah glanced at them. "What's going on in Gulmira?"**

 **"Tony, Tony," Obadiah led him away out of earshot from the press. "You can't afford to be this naive."**

 **"You know what? I was naive before, when they said "here's the line, we don't cross it. This is how we do business." If we're double-dealing under the table... are we?" Tony was staring into Obadiah's eyes, the brown flickering with barely controlled rage as they bored into his old mentor.**

 **"Tony, your picture please!" A male reporter shouted from behind.**

 **Obadiah held Tony's furious gaze for a moment longer before breaking off and grabbing Tony's elbow, guiding him closer to the photographers.**

 **"Let's take a picture, come on." Was all he said. "Picture time!"**

 **Obadiah's arm wrapped around Tony's shoulder and Tony's rested coldly on his back as they faced the media, pulling the younger man closer to him, before whispering into his ear;**

 **"Tony. Who do you think blocked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you." He smiled charmingly at the reporters before leaning in closer to Tony's ear. Tony's face was set stone cold, but his eyes were ablaze with rage and betrayal. "It was the only way I could protect you." He patted Tony's back and shifted away, camera flashes still flaring.**

 **Christine stood behind Tony, arms crossed. She seemed to be piecing together what was going on on her own. Tony watched Obadiah go, a circle of bodyguards surrounding him as he swept down the carpet.**

"God, I _hate_ that guy." Steve growled.

"So do I, Cap. So do I." Tony agreed.

So, how was it?

F,F&R! 


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! Worked really hard and late on this chapter so I hope you enjoy! I thought you deserved another chapter pretty quick cos I've been away for nearly a year, so. Thanks for all the reviews, its frickin' amazing, they absolutely make my day!

ENJOY!

p.s sorry for any typos I didn't have that much time for editing.

 **The scene changed to a flat screen tv, showing a reporter on FOX News standing before a trail of people wrapped in clothing and carrying their possessions in sacs, a mother clutching a baby to her chest.**

 **"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern day heart of darkness. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power."**

 **The camera panned out showing Tony sitting in a desk chair in front of the tv, fiddling with a screwdriver with his right suit-glove, the shiny red paint gleaming in the dim light. The arc-reactor glowed steadily through a grey sleeveless shirt Tony was wearing. The billionaire was frowning, obviously upset about what the reporter was saying.**

 **"Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant."**

 **Tony twisted his wrist experimentally, scrutinising the glove for any mistakes in his design before finally raising his eyes to the tv. It showed the interior of an old abandoned warehouse, smoke still rising from the old machinery. Gunshots sounded and the tv changed to a video of insurgents running, carrying machine guns and shooting at an unknown enemy.**

 **"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters, referred to by locals as the Ten Rings."**

 **The video on the tv zoomed in on an arabic man recognized as Raza, smoking a cigarette casually as he watched the gunfight unfold.**

 **"As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission; a mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way."**

 **Tony watched and listened to the reporter, the darkness in his eyes growing rapidly.**

Steve swallowed. He knew that look. Stark was furious.

 **"With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees."**

 **Tony stood from the sofa and headed over to his kitchen bar, tossing the screwdriver he had been playing around with before into the sink.**

 **"Around me, a woman is begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia..."**

 **Tony stood before a dangling light, eyes dark with anger and a sort of sadness, or perhaps... guilt. He raised his gloved arm, the blaster whirring and preparing for use. Suddenly it went off, and Tony fell backwards awkwardly from the powerful recoil, sparks exploding everywhere. Tony walked towards his target expressionless. Head down, Tony continued listening to the reporter, who was now talking about orphans in Gulmira, and refugees wondering who 'if anyone' will help. The genius looked up, catching sight of his own reflection in the glass.**

Tony shifted uncomfortably. He knew what was coming, and he knew the others wouldn't like it.

 **With sudden speed, Tony raised his blaster and shot at one of the windows containing his reflection, twisting around to avoid the shattering glass, shot the next one, and the next. And they all had his reflection.**

Before the movie moved on to the next scene, Clint opened his mouth, trying to overcome his shock. "Hold on, hold on, pause the movie. Pause it." He stared at Tony. "Tony... I don't... _what_?"

Steve felt sick. Physically sick, like he wanted to throw up, and he hadn't done that since the super soldier syrum. Did Tony want to kill himself? Did _Tony Stark_ , arrogant, big-headed, rude, snarky, self-absorbed, playboy _Tony Stark_ want to kill himself? It seemed impossible. Tony was always laughing about something, purposely irritating someone about something, he was one of the truly happiest guys Steve had ever met. It seemed like he had nothing to worry about. But, _Jesus Christ_ , how wrong had he gotten it? He was Team Captain, he was supposed to know this sort of crap! He was supposed to know Tony, he thought he did! But obviously not. Hell, he didn't even know Tony was a weapons designer before Iron Man, he didn't even know that one of his best friends were captured and tortured in _FUCKING AFGHANISTAN!_

"Tony..." Bruce began. "Please, please tell me you didn't want to..." The poor man wasn't even able to say it.

"Kill yourself?" Natasha offered, when no one else spoke. To Steve she looked completely relaxed, no emotion whatsoever but the Captain knew her insides were probably in turmoil, you just couldn't see it.

"I, um... I was in a bad place. I was a little upset." Tony shrugged, avoiding eye contact. He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Upset?" Bruce stared at his friend. "Tony, you wanted to... to kill yourself. That's more than a _little_ upset. A lot more, believe me, I know."

Steve suddenly remembered the guy's story about trying to swallow a bullet.

"What about now?" Clint's voice came, a lot clearer than earlier. "Do you still want to die?"

Tony looked horrified. "Hell no! I mean, there are times when I think it would be easier, for me, for everyone-"

Steve's stomach lurched.

"- but I can't do that to you Pepper, or you guys, or Rhodey. It would be selfish as _fuck_ , and I know you guys think I am, selfish I mean, but I'm not that much of a dick to put you guys through that, I promise." Tony looked into their eyes earnestly.

"Tony-" Steve began.

"Cap, I swear I'm fine now, I promise." He nodded.

"It's just..." Bruce looked at his buddy. "You know we care about you, right Tony? You're our friend and we love and care about you and we couldn't bear if anything happened to you, I know I certainly couldn't, and neither could the Big Guy."

The whole team, including Fury was nodding.

"Agreed." Thor declared, watching the Man of Iron curiously.

Tony was blushing scarlet and Steve was sure the guy wasn't breathing properly. Tony held out his fist for a fist bump with Bruce.

"Science bros?" He offered.

"Science bros." Bruce agreed, chuckling.

Fury nodded, watching the two with a slightly fond look in his eye. "Okay, I think we can start playing it again.

Tony caught sight of Steve still watching him, concerned.

Tony sighed slightly and whispered so only Rogers could hear; "Steve, it's okay. I'm okay."

Steve nodded slightly and Tony patted him on the shoulder, turning round to continue watching.

 **The scene changed to Stark walking on to this floor with a grid on it. From where he stood, metal panes began to fold in on the floor, flipping to the opposite side where the shiny metal of the Mark appeared. There were the shoes bit of the suit and Tony put his left leg in, the metal tightening around his foot to fit. More of the suit pieced together around his calves as his other foot stepped in, the metal sliding into place with an almost beautiful ease. The suit continued to fold over Tony's legs, sliding over his thighs and getting fixed to his knees, DUM-E, Butterfingers and U all helping their creator get fitted. Tony raised his arms up and two machines encased pretty much his entire forearms, pushing the gauntlets onto his fingers and wrists, plates of red and gold enveloping his entire chest, securing around the arc-reactor as it beamed brightly. Two machines placed the neck brace around Tony's neck, before one final machine dropped the face-plate down, the eyes gleaming the arc-reactor's blue.**

Clint whistled, impressed. Fury shook his head, trying to smother his own look of impressedness.

"I can't believe you have that kind of technology in 2008," he muttered.

 **The scene changed to high above the clouds, the sky a beautiful clear blue. A small object flew into view, leaving a trail of white hot behind him; Iron Man's blasters. Iron Man's gauntlet blasters blazed as he sped up even further, a small blasting noise could be heard.**

Bruce blinked. "Did you just go supersonic?"

"Yup," Tony replied, leaning back with on his chair with his feet on the table, popping the 'p'.

 **The scene changed to a mob of arabic people running away, screaming. Missiles sliced into the mountainside in the background, dangerously close to the village. There was a huge explosion and and smoke erupted. Afghani soldiers in army fatigues ushered villagers away as an insurgent chased a man and woman into a house, peppering the walls with bullet holes. The insurgent kicked open the door as he was joined by another insurgent, who was shooting anyone who came near.**

 **A man screamed as he threw himself out of a building just as the doorway exploded. Men and women were being herded by insurgents, some shot as they tried to make their getaway. It was utter chaos.**

 **Men were being pushed up against a wall, hands on their heads as the insurgents surrounded them with guns. Women watching clutched each other in terror, and the elderly and young men watched in horror.**

 ** _Hurry it up_** **, the bearded man from the camp where Tony was held captive yelled in arabic.** ** _Put the women in the trucks. Stack the weapons here. Clear all the houses, that one there, faster, faster!_**

 **A man wrapped his arms around his children and wives as he guided them, ducking the gunfire desperately. Insurgents rushed ahead with cases of weapons, all imprinted with the same two words -** ** _Stark Industries._**

 **A gunshot stopped the man with his wife and children in his tracks and he crouched down, trying to shield them.**

 ** _Grab that dog!_** **The bearded man commanded.** ** _Put him with the others_** **.**

 **Suddenly the man with his family was ripped away by an insurgent, the mother screaming for her husband as she tried to hold her children back. But her son got loose and raced towards his father, and all of the sudden the father was able to tear himself away from the insurgent. He ran towards his son and the boy enveloped him in a hug, ignoring his mother's desperate shouts.**

 ** _What the hell is this?!_** **Cried the bearded man.**

 **The bearded man grabbed the boy and roughly dragged him away from his father, who was desperately trying to cling on to his son. The bearded man tossed the boy to the side and shoved the father to the ground, stomping hard on his chest.**

 **The mother's screams grew, desperate and piercing as she clutched her son and daughter to her. The bearded man continued to kick the father, watching gleefully as the man gasped in pain.**

 ** _Shoot this dog,_** **he ordered.**

"C'mon, Tony," Bruce was staring wide-eyed at the scene before him. "Now would be a really great time to show up."

 **An insurgent with an AK-45 pulled the father up as the bearded man stomped off.**

 ** _You're all incompetent,_** **he growled.**

 **The mother was on her knees, arms wrapped around her children as the daughter sobbed,** ** _papa! Papa!_** **, over and over.**

 ** _Turn your head!_** **An insurgent screamed at the father, who was on his knees, arms raised in surrender as a huge assault rifle was shoved in his face.**

 ** _PAPAAAAAAAAAAAA_** **! The boy screamed with horror, when all of a sudden he heard an odd motor-engine like sound, turning his head up to see.**

 **The bearded man spun round and stared up, astonished, and sure enough, there was Iron Man, landing right before him with a loud clang.**

"YESSSSSSSS!" Whooped Clint.

"Impeccable timing, Tony," Steve clapped his friend on the back.

 **The blasters cut out and Iron Man rose up, and you could almost feel the determination radiating off the suit. A single shooter opened fire, right in front of him, and Iron Man just took the bullets, ricocheting off the metal, before punching him right in the stomach, sending him flying up, smacking into the wall of a concrete building. Iron Man spun round and sent a blast to the insurgent holding the men hostage, allowing all the hostages to scatter. Iron Man blasted another insurgent who opened fire on him, then another, then another. He twisted round, both gauntlets up and ready to fire before freezing. Four insurgents had taken hostages, holding guns to their heads and backs.**

"Hold your fire!" Steve yelped.

Natasha sent him a scathing glare. "I think he knows that, Rogers."

 **Iron Man slowly lowered his arms, the blasters stopped glowing. Instead a beeping noise could be heard, and red targets were placed on insurgents head inside Iron Man's mask, obviously what Tony could see. The hostages were labeled with white 'civilian' tags and there were no targets on their heads.**

 **Mini missiles popped out of Iron Man's shoulders and in an instant they slammed into all the insurgents, who collapsed beside their hostages, who were completely unharmed, dead. The wife stared at him in shock, breathing heavily. Everything was silent for a moment, before the boy escaped his mother's grasp and ran towards his father, shouting his name, a beaming smile on his face. They embraced, holding eachother and didn't let go. But the boy's eyes followed Iron Man as he passed them.**

 **The bearded man was hiding behind a wall, dealing something vigorously on a phone. He leant against the wall, but all of a sudden, a red fist punched through the concrete wall. The bearded man stared at it for a moment in horror. Iron Man pulled him through the wall, tossing him to the dusty ground as villagers surrounded the man. Iron Man's blasters came back on and he rose up, hovering in the air and looking down at the surrounded group of villagers.**

 **"He's all yours." Tony's metallic voice came through for the first time and he zipped away, and upwards.**

 **Iron Man zipped through the sky, his missiles locating one of the insurgents own missiles aimed for the sky. About to blow it up, Iron Man was suddenly hit, and smashed to the ground in a mere instance.**

"Jesus!" Clint yelped. "What was that?"

 **Everything was quiet as a scratched metallic hand reached to the edge of a crater, Iron Man dragging himself out with a pained gasp. He stood for a moment, and there was nothing, the attack had seemingly come from nowhere. All of a sudden there was another blast, and Iron Man dodged it with ease. He raised his arm and sent a small missile into a tank into the far distance, turning away and not watching as it blew up.**

"Bro, that was awesome!" Clint exclaimed, grinning.

"I know," Tony smiled smugly.

 **More insurgents had seemingly gathered from nowhere and were opening fire on Iron Man, the bullets ricocheting off him uselessly. Iron Man ignored them and rose into the air, finding more missiles pointed into the air and he blew them up, his gauntlet blasters blazing as the insurgents scattered. Their escape attempts were in vain, though, because the explosion swallowed them all. A convoy of trucks with Raza looking out the window in lead pulled up, staring.**

 **Iron Man zoomed out of the blast range and in seconds he was hundreds of feet above the surface. He had succeeded in his mission.**

 **The scene changed to a computer screen, showing a camera at the village occupied by insurgents which Iron Man had just blown up.**

 **"What the hell was that? Were we cleared to go in there?" A man in army fatigues questioned another soldier sitting at a desk.**

 **The words '** ** _Edwards Air Force Base, California'_** **appeared.**

 **"No, they were using human shields. We never got the green light." The soldier replied, confused.**

 **"Put me through to State, they're gonna be all over this." Another soldier with brown hair ordered, watching the commotion.**

 **"Get those monitors up!" Someone yelled.**

 **A young soldier's computers was suddenly drowned in alarms. "We got a bogey!" He announced.**

 **"Wasn't Air Force!" Someone yelled.**

Fury shook his head. "I remember that. We were all so confused about what the hell was happening." He glared at Stark. "You confused the fuck outta us, Stark."

Clint and Natasha nodded.

"I remember that day," Clint said. "There was a real commotion, I've got to say."

Tony smirked. "Glad I was so noticeable."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

 **"We got CIA on the line?" The same guy who requested State asked, obviously the acting commanding officer.**

 **"I've got Langley on the line. They wanna know if it's us." The soldier who asked whether or not they were cleared said.**

 **"No, it definitely is not us, sir!" Another soldier spun around and said.**

 **"Wasn't Navy."**

 **"Wasn't Marines!"**

 **"I need answers!" The soldier said. "Can I please get eyes on target?"**

 **"Negative."**

 **"Negative."**

 **"Cannot identify."**

 **"Get me Colonel Rhodes from Weapons Development down here now!" The soldier ordered.**

 **Iron Man continued to zip through the air, at a more steady pace than before. Tony seemed to just be cruising.**

 **Back at the base, Rhodey had just arrived.**

 **"We ran an ID check and cross-referenced with all known databases. We have nothing." The soldier said to him.**

 **"Any high altitude surveillance in the region?" Rhodes asked.**

 **"We got an AWAC and a Global Hawk in the area." A soldier announced, looking up from one of the computers.**

 **"So this thing just appeared out of nowhere?" Rhodes said. "How come it didn't show up on the radar?"**

 **"Got a minimal radar cross section, sir." A soldier replied.**

 **"Is it stealth?"**

 **"No, sir, it's tiny. We think it's an unmanned aerial vehicle."**

Tony snorted. "Unmanned?"

Steve gave him a disapproving look. "You could have gotten yourself into serious trouble, Stark."

Bruce sighed. "Who says he didn't?"

 **"Colonel, what're we dealing with here?" The commanding soldier asked Rhodes, voice low.**

 **Rhodey looked down, avoiding the other man's gaze. "Lemme make a call."**

 **The scene changed to Iron Man, still soaring above the clouds. A ringing of a telephone sounded out.**

 **"Hello?" Tony said.**

 **"Tony?" Rhodes said, back at the airbase.**

 **"Who's this?" Tony asked.**

 **"It's Rhodes."**

 **"Sorry, hello?" Tony asked again, blinking inside his mask. Silently, JARVIS pushed a picture of Rhodey closer into Tony's line of view.**

 **"I said it's Rhodes." Rhodey repeated.**

 **"Speak up, please,"**

 **"What the hell is that noise?" Rhodey frowned, sticking a finger in his ear.**

 **"Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down." Tony lied.**

 **"Yeah well, I need your help right now."**

 **"It's funny how that works, huh?" Tony mused.**

 **"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive." Rhodes informed him.**

 **"Well, that's a, uh, that's a hot spot. Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?" Tony sounded out of breath.**

 **Rhodes picked up on that immediately. "Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?"**

Natasha shook her head. "That's lying 101, Tony."

Tony stuck his tongue out. "Yeah, well, I ain't a spy, Romanov."

 **"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon," Tony lied.**

 **"I thought you were driving."**

 **"Right, I was driving, uhh, to the canyon, where I'm going to jog."**

Clint winced. "That was bad, Stark, even for you."

Tony glared.

 **"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?"**

 **"Nope!" Tony decided, sounding uncharacteristically pleased.**

 **"Bogey spotted!" Someone from the base called.**

 **On the screen at the front, sure enough, a blurry pixelated video feed of Iron Man was playing.**

 **"Whiplash, come in hot." Someone said.**

 **"Okay, good, 'cause I'm staring at one right now and it's about to be blown to kingdom come." Rhodey informed his friend.**

Bruce and Steve both cringed.

 **Sure enough, behind Iron Man two fighter jets pulled up in formation.**

 **"That's my exit," Tony declared, pulling away and speeding up.**

 **The jets followed in turn, of course, and they were suddenly caught in a high speed air-chase.**

 **"Ballroom, this Whiplash One. I've got the bogey in my sights." The pilot of one of the jets announced over the intercom.**

 **"Whiplash One, what is it?" Rhodey asked.**

 **"I've got no idea," Whiplash One responded.**

 **"You have radio contact?" The commanding officer standing beside Rhodey asked.**

 **"Non responsive, sir."**

 **The soldier nodded. "Then you are clear to engage."**

 **Looking through his targeting cameras, Whiplash One ordered his missile to, 'Hit it', but all of a sudden, Iron Man sped up impossibly fast with a blast, zipping through the sky.**

 **"That bogey just went supersonic! I gotta lock!" Whiplash One exclaimed. The pilot pressed a red button and a large missile zoomed out of Whiplash One's body, heading towards Iron Man alarmingly fast.**

 **"Inbound missile," JARVIS warned.**

 **"Flares!" Tony commanded.**

 **Flares flew out of Iron Man with such momentum the suit was in a starfish like shape, but the missile blew to pieces, suddenly useless.**

 **"Wait a second, bogey deployed flares!" Whiplash One sounded shocked.**

 **The two jets narrowly missed the wreckage of the missile, and Iron Man fell about 50 meters, Tony gasping in fear, before finally gaining control again and continued his flight quickly, the jets close behind. One of the jets opened fire, getting a couple of shots in, before Iron Man straightened up.**

 **"Deploy flaps!" Tony ordered, and all of a sudden he was yanked backwards, the breaks working very effectively.**

 **"Holy!" Whiplash One exclaimed, trying to follow with his eyes, but losing sight almost instantly.**

 **"That thing just jumped off the radar, sir." Whiplash Two informed Base.**

 **"The sat visual has been lost." A soldier confirmed.**

 **"No way that's a UAV," one of the pilots commented.**

 **"What is it?" The commanding officer asked.**

 **"I can't see anything." Whiplash Two shook his head.**

 **"Whatever it was, it just bought the farm." Whiplash One said.**

 **"I think bogey has been handled, sir." Whiplash Two agreed.**

 **Rhodey shook his head, bewildered. His phone went off and he looked at it. Tony's picture had come up, along with the words 'The Starkster'.**

Bruce and Steve rolled their eyes.

"Really?" Fury sighed.

Tony grinned. "Hell yeah."

 **Looking around, Rhodey turned away and pressed the phone to his ear.**

 **"Hello?" He said.**

 **"Hi, Rhodey, it's me." Tony sounded tired,**

 **"It's who?" Rhodey raised his eyebrows.**

 **"I'm sorry, it is me. You asked, what you were asking about me." Yes, Tony was definitely grimacing.**

 **"No, see, this isn't a game." Rhodey scolded. "You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone, you understand that?"**

 **The view changed to Tony inside the mask, beads of sweat along his forehead.**

 **"This is not a piece of equipment, I'm in it, it's a suit. It's me!" He shouted, clearly agitated.**

 **Rhodey' eyes widened in realisation.**

 **The commanding officer who had been watching the phone call fold out, asked, "Rhodey, you got anything for me?"**

 **Rhodey lowered the phone from, his ear, staring at the officer in shock.**

 **Back in the sky, Ballroom came over the intercom. "Mark your position and return to base."**

 **"Roger that, Ballroom." Whiplash One and Two agreed and began to turn backwards, when all of a sudden, there was a view of Iron Man, clinging to the belly of one of the jets.**

Fury wiped a hand over his face, frustrated. "The fuck were you thinking, Stark?!"

Bruce and Steve had both gone slightly pale.

 **"On your belly!" Whiplash Two told One. "It looks like a man!"**

"Oh god," Clint moaned.

How was it?

F,F&R


	10. Chapter 10

Hi guys! So here I've got a very short chapter with not much action, sorry about that. I recently went on a binge-watching rampage with MARVEL's new tv series, The Defenders. Yeah, it wasn't that special, nothing I haven't seen before, but it's got some pretty badass action sequences in it. Who's your favourite Defender? Mine's definitely Daredevil, although I quite like Jessica Jones too.

Someone asked me about a comment I made a couple of chapters ago, I think it was, about me being in middleschool. And, uh, yeah, that's correct! I turned 13 a couple of months ago, so, yay, finally a teenager!

Anyways, I know it's short but I hope you like it. I'll try to update later this week but I can't promise anything :)

ENJOY!

 _ **"On your belly!" Whiplash Two told One. "It looks like a man!"**_

 _"Oh God," Clint moaned._

 **The commanding officer and Rhodey's eyes both widened at the pilot's comment, Rhodey lowering the phone from his ear in horror.**

 **"Shake it off!" Whiplash Two cried.**

 **Sure enough, Iron Man was hugging the belly of the jet, pressed close against the body.**

 **"Pull, pull!" Whiplash Two yelled.**

 **Whiplash One dropped suddenly in the air, engines accelerating as the pilot sent the jet into a violent and speedy spin. Iron Man's legs were loose and unattached, slamming painfully into the underside of the jet at every turn, but Iron Man's torso and hands stayed locked in place. But then the plane went into an even more violent spinning, heading downward, and it was a miracle the pilot didn't lose control. With a cry, the plane was wrenched from Iron Man's grasp, and the metallic man fell, tossed around in the wind, before colliding into Whiplash Two's left wing.**

"Oh, God," Bruce stared in horror at the disaster onscreen. "Tony, what did you _do_?"

 **"I'm hit," Whiplash Two stated, before processing it properly. His eyes widened as his plane was wrenched sidewards. "I"M HIT!"**

 **Back at Ballroom, the control room watched in shock at the scene before the screens in front of them. Rhodey looked horrified.**

 **Whiplash Two was spiralling downwards at incredible speed, leaving a trail of black smoke behind him.**

 **"Punch out, punch out!" Whiplash One cried desperately over the intercom.**

 **Whiplash One pressed a red button besides the gear stick of his jet, breaking through the windshield glass and ejecting himself from the plane just as it blew up and set on fire.**

 **The seat containing the pilot was lost in a matter of seconds, gravity taking its toll as it jerked the seat to the ground viciously.**

 **"Whiplash Two; down." Whiplash One stated.**

 **"Whiplash One, do you see a chute?" The commanding officer asked, eyes glued to the screens.**

 **"Negative," Whiplash One said, glancing back. "No chute,** ** _no chute!_** **"**

 **The soldiers in Ballroom could hear Whiplash Two's desperate gasps as he clawed at the side of his chair as he fell to the surface of the earth, slowly but surely.**

 **"My chute's jammed!" Whiplash Two shouted.**

 **One soldier, watching the disaster unfold, removed his headphones and shut his eyes in horror as Whiplash Two screamed down to the earth, the dusty ground getting closer and closer by the instant.**

"Come on, Stark," Steve whispered under his breathe. "Catch him, catch him, c'mon, catch him, _please_."

 **As Whiplash Two plummeted, a familiar fiery shape followed him down, speeding up.**

"Yesssssss," Clint hissed, nodding slightly in relief.

 **"Sir, I've got a visual on the bogey." Whiplash One stated.**

 **"Whiplash One, reengage. If you get a clear shot, you take it." The commanding officer ordered,**

"Oh come on, they can't blow you up now!" Bruce complained.

 **Whiplash One dove off to the side, following the left behind trail of Iron Man.**

 **"Major, we don't even know what we're shooting at." Rhodey stated. "Call off the raptors."**

 **"That thing just took out an F-22 inside a legal no-fly zone!" The major said angrily. Holding Rhodey's gaze he continued; "Whiplash One, if you have a clear shot, take it!"**

 **Back in the sky, Tony was still zipping down through the clouds.**

 **"** ** _You've been reengaged,_** **" JARVIS informed him. "** ** _Execute evasive manoeuvre._** **"**

 **"Keep going!" Tony ordered.**

 **He was nearing the plummeting pilot, catching up to him, and anyone could tell that Iron Man wasn't just about to let this man fall to his death because of him. As Iron Man approached the pilot, still safely strapped to his seat, Whiplash Two tried to twist around and push him away, but Iron Man ignored him, instead punching through the jammed lever for the parachute and shooting away before the chute hit him, leaving a trail of white smoke behind him.**

 **"Good chute! Good chute!" Whiplash Two announced, relieved, and the whole Ballroom erupted in joyous cheers. Everyone was grinning and punching their fists in the air happily, apart from the Major, obviously irritated that the unknown 'bogey' had gotten away.**

"Nice," Steve clapped Tony on the back. "You saved that guy's life, Tony."

Tony shrugged. "Just doing my job, Cap." But he sent the man a cocky wink.

 **Iron Man zipped over a beautiful plain of mountains as Rhodey pressed his phone back to his ear cautiously.**

 **"Tony, you still there?" He asked quietly.**

 **"Hey, thanks," Tony said.**

 **"Oh my God, you crazy son of a bitch," the colonel laughed relieved into the phone, smiling. "You owe me a plane, you know that, right?"**

Fury nodded. "That's very expensive equipment, you just destroyed right there, Stark." He looked slightly sympathetically at the on-screen Rhodey. "I know how the man feels."

Tony looked offended. "Hey, I don't break that much stuff, and even if I do, it's probably mine."

Natasha looked at him. "Stark, you brought down a skyscraper on our last mission. And don't tell me it was yours - it belonged to Fed-Ex, and I know for a fact you do not own that company."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "That was _Fed-Ex_? I swear, I thought it belonged to Delta Airlines."

Steve gave him a look. "No, Tony, that was last week."

"Oh." Stark looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, but I'm buddies with the CEO, so he didn't mind. Good publicity too, you know. It was kinda like the building sacrificed itself for the sake of New York, y'know with official Avengers business and all that, and people really respect that-"

"Tony." Bruce interrupted.

"Oh, yeah right, sorry. Lets carry on." The billionaire nodded, swivelling round.

 **In the suit, Tony laughed, eyes shining as they swept over Rhodey's profile picture that JARVIS had placed in the mask for him.**

 **"Yeah, well, technically he hit me, so... now you're gonna come by and see what I'm working on?" The man sounded childishly excited at the prospect of his best friend coming to hang out and check out what he was doing.**

 **"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The less I know the better. Now what am I supposed to tell the press?"**

"Same thing as always; a training incident." Natasha said.

 **"Ah, training exercise, isn't that the usual BS?" Tony asked.**

"Called it," Tony grinned, while Natasha looked slightly displeased that she was following the same train of thought as Tony Stark.

 **"It's not that simple," Rhodey protested as Iron Man continued to cross over plains of mountains and valleys of cliffs and rocks.**

 **The camera went black for an instant before changing scene to Rhodey standing in front of various cameras for news outlets and a whole crowd of reporters, wearing his traditional military wear.**

 **"An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday."**

Tony nodded, sending a prideful and snarky look at Steve, who rolled his eyes, and Natasha hid an internal smirk at her correct guess.

 **"I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured, as for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the United States government was not involved."**

 **Obadiah Stane watched Rhodey on the tv while lounging on a sleek, black-leather couch, a pissed off frown furrowing his eyebrows. His eyes flickered with rage.**

 **The scene changed to Pepper, heading down the stairs to Tony's underground workshop.**

 **"Hey!" Tony exclaimed in the background. "** ** _Ow_** **! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah." The familiar whirring of DUM-E cut in.**

 **"** ** _It is a tight fit, sir_** **." JARVIS stated.**

 **Tony groaned.**

 **"** ** _Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt_** **." Said JARVIS.**

 **Pepper made her way down the stairs, eyes still cast down on a clipboard, which she hadn't looked up from yet, but at the word 'hurt' her eyes snapped up.**

 **"Be gentle, this is my first time." Tony said.**

"Oh my God, you know what this sounds like, right?" Clint spluttered. "It sounds like-"

"Yes, Clint, we all know what you're implying, we don't need a commentary, thank you very much." Natasha but in before he could get too far,

Tony was staring disgustedly at Clint. "You know Jay is an AI, right? He has no physical form, how the hell would that even be possible?"

"I don't know, you're a weirdo, Stark!" Clint exclaimed. "For all I know, you built some weird sex-robot -"

"Not everyone is as loveless as you, Barton. People will actually willingly come home with me, you know?" Tony stated, single eyebrow raised.

Clint's mouth fell open in shock, and he opened and closed it repeatedly, each time wanting to say something but rendered speechless.

"Don't do that," chastised Natasha. "You look like a fish."

"People will have sex with me-" The archer exploded.

"Can we please not have this conversation right now?" Steve had gone slightly pink throughout the whole thing.

Tony grinned. "Sorry Cap, you'll learn about it when you're older. Forgot you were still so young."

"I am literally older than everybody in this room that isn't a God, Tony."

"Are you sure?" Stark gestured at Fury. "I dunno, Nicky's pretty ancient too-"

"Stark!" Fury barked, "Shut the hell up before I shoot you."

Tony mock-saluted. "Sir, yes, sir."

Bruce glared at him, a slight warning flickering in his eyes. ' _Don't push it, Tony'_.

"I'll have you know that I'm a very handsome man that many woman desire-"

" _CLINT_!"

 **Pepper stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the spectacle before her. Tony was standing on the platform from earlier, surrounded by the same machines that had placed the suit on him, this time trying to pull the metal plates off him. Tony was standing on one leg and both arms out, trying desperately to balance and not fall off.**

"Oh my God," Steve snorted.

 **"I designed this to come off, so.** ** _OW_** **! Hey!" The billionaire scolded a robot. "I really should be able to..." Tony tugged at his right arm.**

 **"** ** _Please, try not to move, sir._** **" JARVIS said, slightly pityingly.**

 **Still unnoticed by her boss, Pepper walked towards him, clipboard no longer in her hands.**

 **"What's going on here?" She asked.**

 **All at once the robots detached themselves from Tony, leaving him standing awkwardly on one leg and both arms raised. He craned his neck to look at her.**

 **"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." Tony said sheepishly.**

"Don't wanna think about what that means," Clint grimaced.

 **Pepper stared at him in horror. "Are those bullet holes?!"**

 **The scene changed to an Afghani camp at night, a couple of canvas tents doted around the place, and men walking around in groups, armed. A convoy of shiny black SUV's pulled up in the central dust area, and the men gathered around. Raza stood at the front, watching the cars arrive, flanked by two other, bigger men, bodyguards of some kind. A door opened, revealing Obadiah Stane.**

"Son of a bitch!" Clint glared, while an odd sort of growl rumbled in Steve's throat.

Bruce's eyes flashed green, and Tony could tell that Big Guy would probably have made an appearance if not for Loki's magic.

"I do not like this man," Thor declared, glowering at the image of Obadiah as if the man could actually see him.

"Neither do I, big guy. Neither do I." Tony agreed.

 **Eyes scanning the camp, Stane approached Raza.**

 **"Welcome." Raza said.**

 **Obadiah's eyes ran over the ugly burn on the side of Raza's head, raising his eyebrows questioningly.**

 **"Compliments of Tony Stark," Raza offered only those four words as explanation.**

 **"If you'd killed him when you're supposed to, you'd still have a face," Stane said.**

Tony looked away and swallowed. Even after everything that had happened, everything that Obie had done, those words still hurt. That man was his mentor, was one of his most trusted friends in the whole _world_ , and here he was requesting Tony's death like he meant absolutely nothing. So, yeah, it stung like hell.

 **"You made us trinkets to kill a prince." Raza growled.**

 **"Show me the weapon." Ordered Stane.**

 **Raza studied him for a moment before nodding curtly. "Come on. Leave your guards outside."**

 **Obadiah raised a hand to signal to his guards that all was good, before following Raza, the insurgents watching his every move warily. Obadiah entered a dimly lit tent, made out of worn red canvas. In the centre of the tent there was a bulkier, heavier version of Tony's Iron Man, made out of shining silver steel and iron, with the same frightening mask that Tony had designed while in captivity. There was still a hole in the centre of the chest plate, where the arc reactor would usually go.**

 **"His escape bore unexpected fruit." Raza said.**

 **Obadiah stood in front of the suit, crossing his arms with an impressed smile. "So this is how he did it."**

 **"This is only a first, crude effort. Stark has perfected his design. He has made a masterpiece of death."**

Tony resisted the urge to shudder slightly. He didn't like the way the Mark was being described. It was almost as bad as Tony's previous nickname, _Merchant of Death_.

 **Obadiah circled the suit, admiring it.**

 **"A man with a dozen of these can rule Asia," Raza continued. "And you dream of Stark's throne." It wasn't a question, but a statement.**

 **Obadiah stopped and turned to look at him, eyebrow raised.**

 **"We have a common enemy." Raza offered, sitting down."If we are still in business, I will give you these designs as a gift."**

 **Stane's fingers traced the hole in the chest plate where the arc reactor belonged dangerously.**

Tony swallowed and placed a hand over the glowing sphere in his chest protectively. It was getting dangerously close to you know what, now.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Obadiah onscreen. As one of the only people who actually genuinely knew how important the arc reactor was to Tony's ability to stay alive, and also one of the only ones (possibly the only human at all, ever, considering he was excluding DUM-E, U, Butterfingers and JARVIS from the list) who understood the engineering of the creation. Maybe Rhodey and Pepper knew too, but he doubted they understood it at the same level as he did, and Bruce really, _really_ didn't like where Obadiah seemed to be going with this.

 **At the word '** ** _gift_** **' Obadiah's fingers paused and his eyes flicked up to look at Raza.**

 **"And in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of iron soldiers." Raza raised a glass of liquor which he had paused, smiling slyly.**

"Hell, no." Barton muttered.

 **Smiling, Obadiah lent down to get closer to Raza's face. He held a metallic object that glowed red and begun to whir by the man's ear, and his own earrings beamed blue.**

"Shit," Tony muttered.

"Why, what is it?" Steve asked curiously.

"Not one of my proudest creations, I have to say." Tony's eyes narrowed at the Director. "Although I know for a fact that SHIELD sure found a good use for it."

Fury avoided the billionaire's gaze.

"What does it do?" Said Thor.

"You'll see." Romanoff said, obviously also knowing what the thing was, and Steve suspected she'd probably used it before, based upon Tony's previous comment about SHIELD.

 **Suddenly the veins on the side of Raza's head turned a dark purplish-blue, and the man's head jerked sideways and he begun to whimper.**

"The fuck is that thing?" Clint wondered out loud.

 **Obadiah spoke in arabic,** ** _This is the only gift you shall receive._**

 **Raza stayed frozen in his seat, breathing still in gasps and whimpers.**

 **"Technology." Stane mused, flicking the odd object off and pocketing it. "It's always been your Achilles heel in this part of the world." Obadiah pulled at the glowing blue earrings, and Raza's now bloodshot eyes followed him, the black veins still prominent in his burned head. "Don't worry, it'll only last for 15 minutes. That's the least of your problems."**

 **Obadiah squeezed the top of the man's head before exiting the tent triumphantly. his eyes scanned the crowd of insurgents that had gathered before addressing his own guards.**

 **"Crate up the armour and the rest of it." He walked towards his car. "All right, let's finish up here."**

 **A flurry of machine guns sounded where the crowd of insurgents had just been, and it was obvious Obadiah's people had just executed them.**

 **The scene changed to Stane in the back of his SUV, a phone pressed to his ear.**

 **"Set up Sector 16 underneath the arc reactor, and I'm gonna want this data masked. Recruit our top engineers." He said. "I want a prototype right away."**

"Son. Of. A. Bitch." Clint shook his head.

Yeah, I know it's short, but what can you do?

F,F&R!


End file.
